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The 


Burlington  Magazine 


for    Connoisseurs 


Illustrated  &  Published  Monthly 


Volume  XIII— April  to  September    ipo8 


LONDON 

THE    BURLINGTON    MAGAZINE,    LIMITED 

17    OLD    BURLINGTON    STREET,    W. 

NEW  YORK:   MOFFAT,  YARD  &  COMPANY,  31  EAST  SEVENTEENTH  STREET 

PARIS:    SHIRLEYS    LTD.,    9    BOULEVARD    MALESHERBES 

BRUSSELS  :   LEBEGUE  &  CIE,  46  RUE  DE  LA  MADELEINE 

AMSTERDAM  :   J.  G.  ROBBERS,  N.  Z.  VOORBURGWAL  64 

LEIPZIG  :   FR.  LUDWIG  HERBIG  (Wholesale  Agent),  20  INSELSTRASSE 

KARL  W.  HIERSEMANN,  3  KONIGSSTRASSE 

FLORENCE  :  B.  SEEBER,  20  VIA  TORNABUONI 

BASLE  :   B.  WEPF  &  CO. 


ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  CONTRIBUTORS  TO  VOL.  XIII 


Sir  WALTER  ARMSTRONG 

C.  H.  COLLINS  BAKER 

OSWALD  BARRON 

R.  P.  BEDFORD 

Dr.  E.  W.  BRAUN 

Professor  G.  BALDWIN  BROWN 

Dr.  S.  W.  BUSHELL 

HAROLD  CHILD 

G.  T.  CLOUGH 

Sir  MARTIN  CONWAY 

KENYON  COX 

G.  B.  CROFT-LYONS,  C.B. 

LIONEL  CUST,  M.V.O.,  F.S.A. 

The  Rev.  G.  S.  DAVIES 

ROBERT  E.  DELL 

GEORGES  H.  DE  LOO 

EDWARD  DILLON 

CAMPBELL  DODGSON 

JOSEPH  M.  DORAN 

Prince  DORIA  PAMPHILI 

H.  D.  ELLIS 

KATHARINE  ESDAILE 

HAMILTON  EASTER  FIELD 

KURT  FREISE 

ROGER  E.  FRY 

Dr.  ANTON  HEKLER 

J.  A.  HERBERT 

CHRISTIANA  J.  HERRINGHAM 

G.  F.  HILL 

ALETHEA 
N 


A.  M.  HIND 

Professor  C.  J.   HOLMES 

Sir  CHARLES  HOLROYD 

HERBERT  P.  HORNE 

E.  ALFRED  JONES 

Dr.  a.  KOESTER 

J.  O.  KRONIG 

ARTHUR  F.  G.  LEVESON  GOWER 

D.  S.  MacCOLL 

E.  McCURDY 
A.  H.  MAUDE 
MAY  MORRIS 
CLAUDE  PHILLIPS 
WILLIAM  RANKIN 
LOUISE  M.  RICHTER 
CHARLES  RICKETTS 

C.  R.  RIVINGTON,  F.S.A. 

ROBERT  ROSS 

G.  McNEIL  RUSHFORTH 

FRANK  SIDGWICK 

Professor  HANS  W.  SINGER 

CECIL  H.  SMITH 

H.  CLIFFORD  SMITH 

Sir  EDWARD  MAUNDE  THOMP- 
SON, K.C.B. 

A.  VAN  DE  PUT 

JOHN  C.  VAN  LENNEP 

W.  H.  JAMES  WEALE 

WILLIAM  WHITE 

WIEL 


11 


I 


CONTENTS    OF  VOL.   XIII 

PAGE 

Some  Notes  on  the  Origin  and  Development  of  the  Enamelled  Porcelain   of  the 

Chinese.     By  Edward  Dillon.     Part  I        .......        4 

Part  II 

Puvis  de  Chavannes  :   A  Chapter  from  '  Modern  Painters.'     By  Charles  Ricketts 

Florence  and  her  Builders.     By  Professor  G.  Baldwin  Brown 

The  Old  Silver  Sacramental  Vessels  of  some  English  Churches  in  Holland.     By  E 

Alfred  Jones  .....•••••• 

An  Unknown  Portrait  by  Louis  David.     By  Claude  Phillips        ... 

Mr.  Home's  Book  on  Botticelli.     By  Roger  E.  Fry 

A  Defect  of  Modern  Art  Teaching.     By  C.  J.  Holmes  .... 

The  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Older  Spain.     By  A.  Van  de  Put     . 

On  Contorniates.     By  Katharine  Esdaile   ....... 

Millais's  Portrait  of  Tennyson.     By  D.  S.   MacCoU 

The  Exhibition  of  Illuminated  Manuscripts  at  the  Burlington   Fine  Arts  Club 

By  Roger  E.  Fry.     I        ........  . 

11       ........  • 

The   New   Italian    Law  '  Per   le  Antichita  e  le    Belle    Arti.'     By   Lionel    Cust 

M.V.O.,  F.S.A 

The  Snake  Pattern  in  Ireland,  the  Mediterranean   and   China.     By  Christiana  J 

Herringham   .......••.• 

The    Sacramental   Plate  of  S.    Peter's   Church,   Vere  Street.     By  Arthur  F.   G 

Leveson-Gower        .......... 

The    Enamelling   and    Metallesque    Origin    of   the   Ornament    in    the   Book    of 

Durrow.     By  Joseph  M.  Doran         ....... 

Doccia  Porcelain  of  the  Earliest  Period.     By  Dr.  Edmund  Wilhelm  Braun  . 
The  Gorleston  Psalter.      By  Sir  Edward  Maunde  Thompson,  K.C.B.    . 
The  Franco-British  Exhibition  : — 

The  French  Section.      By  Charles  Ricketts  .... 

The  British  Section.     By  Robert  Ross        .  .  .  .  • 

Notes  on  the  Applied  Arts         ....... 

A  Recent  Addition  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery.      By  Lionel  Cust,  M.V.O. 

F.S.A 

The  Passage  of  the  Ravine,  by  Gericault.     By  C.  J.  Holmes 

Jacopo  del  Sellaio.     By  Herbert  P.  Home  ...... 

Durer's  Works  in  their  Order.     By  Sir  W.  Martin  Conway,  F.S.A.     . 

A  Bronze  Bust  of  Commodus.     By  Cecil  H.  Smith    .  .         .  •  • 

Ming  Bowl  with  Silver-gilt   Mounts  of  the  Tudor   Period.      I.  The   Bowl.      By 

S.  W.  Bushell,  C.M.G.     II.  The  Mount.     By  E.  Alfred  Jones    . 

The  Medallist  Lysippus.      By  G.  F.  Hill 

Some  Constable  Puzzles.      By  C.  J.  Holmes        ...... 

The  French  School  at  the  National  Gallery 

A  Watteau  in  the  Jones  Collection.      By  Claude  Phillips      .... 
Hairdressing  among  the  Ancient  Greeks.     By  Dr.  A.  Koester 
Quattrocento  Book  Collecting — I.     By  G.  T.  Clough 

HI 


69 

9 

18 

22 

78 

83 

87 
88 

90 

127 

128 
261 

130 

132 

137 

138 

145 
146 

192 

195 
200 

206 
209 
210 
214 
252 

257 
274 
286 

327 
345 
351 
359 


CONTENTS   OF  VOL.   XIII — continued 


PAGE 


Editorial  Articles  : — 

The  Painter  as  Critic 3 

The  Crisis  in  Germany       .........      67 

Modern  Pictures  in  the  Saleroom 67 

The  Affairs  of  the  National  Gallery 189 

The  Affairs  of  the  National  Gallery  :   A  Correction       ....   252 

Mr.  Epstein's  Sculpture  in  the  Strand 191 

The  Preservation  of  Ancient  Buildings -251 

Museums         .         .         •         •  •         •         •  •         •  •         -3^9 

Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art  : — 

Two  Recent  Additions  to  the  National  Gallery   (Sir   Charles    Holroyd, 
R.E.) ;  St.   John  the  'Baptist,  by  Cesare  da  Sesto  (Claude    Phillips)  ; 
The   Portrait    of   a    Poet    in    the    National    Gallery    (Sir    Walter 
Armstrong)  ;    Rembrandt   and   Elsheimer    (Kurt   Freise)  ;    English 
Silversmiths     in     St.     Petersburg    in    the    Eighteenth    and    Early 
Nineteenth  Centuries  (E.  Alfred  Jones)  ;   Teyler's    Second   Society 
of  Haarlem      .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  -33 

Pictures  by  Goya  at  the  Miethke  Gallery,  Vienna  (Hans  W.  Singer)  ;  the 
Plate  of  the  English  Church  at  The  Hague  (Arthur  F.  G.  Leveson- 
Gower)  ;  the   Reported   Picture    Forgeries    at    Munich    (Professor 
Hans  von  Petersen  and  others)     .......     99 

The  Parade,  by  Gabriel  de  Saint- Aubin  (C.  J.  H.)  ;  Ambrose  Benzone 
(W.  H.  J.  Weale) ;  Drawings  by  Gerard  David  (Sir  W.  Martin 
Conway)  ;  Notes  on  some  Early  Spanish  Masters  (A.  Van  de  Put)  ; 
The  Greek  Statue  from  Trentham  (Dr.  Anton  Hekler)  ;  '  Lanval ' 
at  the  Playhouse  (H.  C.)  ;  A  Lost  Altarpiece  of  the  Maitre  de 
Flemalle   (Louise  M.  Richter)  ;  The  Emblems  of  the  Evangelists 

(J.  A.  Herbert) 151 

Jacob  Meditating  on  Joseph s  Dreams,  ?Ln  Undescribed  Woodcut  by  Heinrich 
Aldegrever  (Campbell  Dodgson)  ;  The  Prices  Paid  for  the  Sevres 
Porcelain  at  Windsor  Castle  (E.  Alfred  Jones)  ;  The  Demolition 
of  the  Warehouse  of  the  Persians  at  Venice  (Alethea  Wiel)  ;  A 
Sidelight  on  Dona.tt\\o''s  Annunciation  (Gerald  S.  Davies)  .  .219 

New  Light  on  Pisanello   (G.  F.  Hill)  ;  The  Cracks  in   the  Ceiling  of 
the  Sistine  Chapel  (A.  H.   Maude)  ;   A  Statue  by   Giovanni   dell' 

Opera  (C.  J.  H.) 288 

A  Terra-cotta  Bust  of  Thomas  Third  Earl  of  Coventry,  by  John  Michael 
Rysbrack    (Lionel    Cust,   M.V.O.,   F.S.A.)  ;     Giulio    Campagnola 

(A.  M.  Hind) 362 

Art  in  America  : — 

The  Art  of  Albert  P.  Ryder  (Roger  E.  Fry) 63 

Rossetti,  an  Observation  (Robert   Ross)  ;   An  Altarpiece  of  the  Catalan 

School  (Roger  E.  Fry)        ,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .116 

Two   Specimens    of  La  Farge's  Art  in   Glass  'Kenyon   Cox)  ;   Current 

Notes  (W.  Rankin) ,  .  .182 


IV 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  XIU— continued  ^^^^ 

PAGE 

Art  in  America  (continued)  : — 

The  Art  of  Kiyonaga  as  illustrated  in  an  American  Collection  (Hamilton 

Easter  Field) .241 

Rembrandt    and    Van    Dyck    in    the    Widener    and    Frick    Collections 

(C.  J.  Holmes) 3^6 

Rembrandt   and    Girtin    (C.  J.    Holmes)  ;  The   Cattaneo  Van   Dycks  ; 
Cassone     Fronts     and     Salvers     in     American      Collections — VII 

(V\^.  Rankin) 375 

Art  in  France.     By  R.  E.  D 5^y  '^77^  230,  299 

Art  in  Germany,  Austria  and  Switzerland.     By  H.  W.  S.    53,  114,  181,  236,  305,  367 
Letters  to  the  Editor  : — 

The  Portrait   of  Jacqueline   de    Bourgogne   by  Mabuse  (Georges  Hulin 
de  Loo)  ;   Herri  Met  de  Bles   (C.  H.  Collins  Baker)  ;  Silver   Plate 

made  at  King's  Lynn  (H.  D.  Ellis) 100 

A    Portrait    attributed    to    Velazquez    (Prince    Doria    Pamphili)  ;  The 
Identification   of  the  '  Fuller  '   Coast  Scene   and   Similar  V\^orks  by 

Turner  (William  White) 167 

The    Portrait    of  a   Lady  as    the    Magdalen    in    the    National  Gallery 

(J.  O.  Kronig) 227 

The  Greek   Statue  from  Trentham  (Cecil   H.  Smith)  ;  Portraits   in  the 

Kann  Collection  (John  C.  van  Lennep)  .....   292 

The  Medallist  Lysippus  (V.  D.  P.);  Jewellery  (H.  Clifford  Smith)  .   366 

Art  Books  of  the  Month 41,106,168,227,294 

Recent  Art  Publications 5°'  ^75'  298 


LIST   OF   PLATES 


PAGE 

Frontispiece  :  La  Peche  ;  by  Puvis  de  Chavannes 
(in  the  possession  of  Charles  Ricketts  and 
Charles  Shannon) 2 

The  Origin  and  Development  of  the  Enamelled 
Porcelain  of  the  Chinese  : — 
I.  Vase  with  date-mark  of  Cheng-Hua.  2.  Vase 
with  date-mark  of  Wan-Li  (in  the  British 
Museum) 7 

Puvis  de  Chavannes  : — 
Plate  I — L'Esperance  ;  by  Puvis  de  Chavannes     13 
Plate  II — La  Famille  du  Pecheur;  by  Puvis 
de  Chavannes 16 

The  Old  Silver  Sacramental  Vessels  of  some 
English  Churches  in  Holland  : — 
Plate  I — I.  Silver  beakers  and  bread-dish  in 
the  English  Reformed  Church,  Amsterdam. 
2.  Paten,  baptismal  bowl,  alms-boxes  and 
beaker  in  the  English  Reformed  Church, 
Amsterdam.  3.  Inkstands,  trays  and  seal  in 
the  English  Reformed  Church,  Amsterdam     23 

Plate  II— I.  Brass  pulpit  desk  in  the  English 
Reformed  Church,  Amsterdam.  2.  Chalice, 
flagon  and  paten  in  the  English  Episcopal 
Church,  Amsterdam 26 

Plate  III — I.  Beakers  and  patens  formerly  in 
the  English  Church  at  The  Hague. 
2.  Flagons  and  bread-dish  formerly  in  the 
English  Church  at  The  Hague  (in  the 
British  Legation,  The  Hague)      .        .         .29 

Two  Recent  Additions  to  the  National  Gallery  : — 
Plate  I — Jacqueline  de  Bourgogne  ;  by  Mabuse 
(in  the  National  Gallery)       .         .         .         .32 

Plate  II— Portrait  of  a  lady  as  St.  Mary  Mag- 
dalen ;  Antwerp  school  (in  the  National 
Gallery) 35 

St.  John  the  Baptist ;  by  Cesare  da  Sesto  (in  the 

collection  of  Mr.  Claude  Phillips)         .         .     35 

Art  in  America  : — 

The  Art  of  Albert  P.  Ryder  :— 
Plate  I— Constance  ;  by  Albert   P.  Ryder  (in 

the  collection  of  Sir  William  Van  Home)  •  55 
Plate  II— I.  Moonlight  Marine;  by  Albert  P. 
Ryder  (in  the  collection  of  Mr.  N.  E.  Mont- 
ross).  2.  Moonlight  Marine  ;  by  Albert  P. 
Ryder  (in  the  collection  of  Sir  William  Van 
Home) 59 

Plate  III— I.  The  Forest  of  Arden  ;  by  Albert 
P.  Ryder  (in  the  collection  of  Mr.  N.  E. 
Montross;.  2.  Death  on  the  Pale  Horse  ; 
by  Albert  P.  Ryder 62 

A  Portrait  of  a  Boy,  by  J.  L.  David  (in  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  Claude  Phillips)  .         .         .66 

The  Origin  and  Development  of  Chinese  Porce- 
lain : — 

Plate  I— Chinese  porcelain  enamelled  with 
five  colours,  sixteenth  century  (early  or  late) 
(in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum)    .        .     71 


PAGE 

Plate  II — I.  Bowl  with  date  mark  of  Cheng-te 
(1505-1521),  with  over-glaze  decoration  in 
five  colours  (by  kind  permission  of  Mr. 
George  Salting).  2.  Small  water-vessel  in 
form  of  carp.  '  San-tsai '  painted  glazes, 
without  black  pencilling,  probably  six- 
teenth century  (in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum).  3.  Small  water-vessel  in  form  of 
Chinese  poet  resting  on  jar;  'San-tsai' 
painted  glazes  with  black  pencilling,  early 
eighteenth  century  (by  kind  permission  of 
Mr.  George  Salting) 74 

Plate  III — Jar  with  blue-black  ground ;  decora- 
tion in  relief,  slightly  countersunk,  pale 
yellow  and  greenish  blue  ;  probably  fifteenth 
century  (by  kind  permission  of  Mr.  George 
Salting) 79 

On  Contorniates  : — 
Contorniates  in  the  British  Museum        .        .     95 

Pictures  by  Goya  in  the  Miethke  Gallery, 
Vienna  : — 

Plate  I — Donna  Cean  Bermudez,  by  Goya  (in 
the  possession  of  Herr  Miethke,  Vienna)      .     98 

Plate  II — The  arrest  of  a  Manola,  by  Goya  (in 
the  possession  of  Herr  Miethke,  Vienna)      .  loi 

Plate  III — I.  Portrait  of  an  officer,  by  Goya. 
2.  The  Toreador  Pedro  Romero  ;  attributed 
to  Goya  (both  in  the  possession  of  Herr 
Miethke,  Vienna) 104 

Art  in  America  : — 

Rossetti  :  An  Observation  : — 

The  Lady  Lilith,  by  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti 
(recently  acquired  for  the  Metropolitan 
Museum,  New  York)         ,         .         .         .119 

An  Altarpiece  of  the  Catalan  School : — 

An  altarpiece  of  the  Catalan  school  (in  the 
collection  of  Mr.  William  Laffan)         .        .  122 

Alfred  Lord  Tennyson  ;  by  Sir  J.  E.  Millais  (in 
the  collection  of  the  late  Sir  James  Knowles, 
K.C.V.O.) 126 

The  Sacramental   Plate  of  S.  Peter's  Church, 
Vcre  Street : — 
Plate  I — Silver-gilt  flagons  and  alms-dish  (in 

S.  Peter's  Church,  Vere  Street)     .         .         .139 
Plate  II — Silver-gilt  chalices,  patens  and  dish 
(in  S.  Peter's  Church,  Vere  Street)       .        .  142 

Doccia  Porcelain  of  the  Earliest  Period  : — 
Plate  I — I  and  2.  Doccia  cup  painted  by 
Anreiter  (in  the  collection  of  Herr  H. 
Rothberger,  Vienna).  3.  Doccia  cup  painted 
by  Anreiter  (in  the  Kaiser  Franz-Josef 
Museum,  Troppau).  4.  Doccia  flagon  (in 
the  collection  of  Herr  Cahn-Speyer,  Vienna)  147 

Plate  II — 5.  Doccia  tureen  (in  the  museum  of 
the  porcelain  manufactory  at  Charlotten- 
burg).  6.  Doccia  tureen  (in  the  Kunstge- 
werbe  Museum,  Berlin).  7.  Doccia  cup  (in 
the  collection  of  Dr.  Sarbo,  Budapest)  .  150 

The  Parade,  by  Gabriel  de  Saint-Aubin  (recently 

acquired  by  the  National  Gallery)        .        .  153 


VI 


LIST  OF  VLA.T'E^— continued 


PAGE 

Drawings  by  Gerard  David  : — 

Plate  I — Drawings  by  Gerard  David         .         .   157 
Plate  II— The  Marriage  at  Cana  ;  by  Gerard 

David  (in  the  Louvre) 160 

A  Lost  Altarpiece  of  the  Maitre  de  Flemalle  : — 
I.  Two  wings  of  a  triptych  by  the  Maitre  de 
Flemalle  :  Henricus  Werlis  with  St.  John 
the  Baptist  and  St.  Barbara  reading  (in  the 
Prado).  2.  The  Annunciation  ;  possibly 
after  an  original  by  the  Maitre  de  Flemalle 

(in  the  Louvre) 163 

The  Emblems  ot  the  Evangelists  : — 

St.  Mark,  from  the  Durham  Book    .         .         .  166 
A  Portrait  attributed  to  Velazquez  : — 

Portrait  of  a  boy  attributed  to  Velazquez  (in  the 
collection  of  Prince  Doria  Pamphili)    .         .  166 
Art  in  America : — 

Two  Specimens  of  La  Farge's  Art  in  Glass : — 

1.  The  Peacock  ;  panel  in  coloured  glass,  by 
John  La  Farge.  2.  The  Peony  in  the 
Wind  ;  panel  in  coloured  glass,  by  John 

La  Farge 183 

The     Passage    of    the     Ravine,    by    G^ricault 

(recently  exhibited  at  Messrs.  Obach's)        .  188 

The  Franco-British  Exhibition  :  Notes  on  the 
Applied  Arts : — 
Lower  part  of  a  cabinet  designed  by  Sir 
William  Chambers  and  painted  by  William 
Hamilton  (1783)  (at  the  Franco-British 
Exhibition) 201 

Recent    Additions     to     the    National    Portrait 
Gallery  :— 
Margaret  Beaufort,  Countess  of  Richmond  and 
Derby  (recently  acquired  by  the   National 
Portrait  Gallery) 207 

An  Undescribed  Woodcut  by  Heinrich  Alde- 
grever : — 
I.  Jacob  meditating  on  Joseph's  dream  ;  re- 
duced from  a  woodcut  by  Heinrich  Alde- 
grever  (in  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke).  2.  Joseph  fleeing  from  Poti- 
phar's  wife;  from  a  woodcut  by  Heinrich 
Aldegrever  (in  the  Kiinsthalle,  Bremen)       .  218 

A  Sidelight  on  Donatello's  Annunciation  : — 
Plate  I — I.  The   Madonna  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion ;   by    Bernardo    Rossellino   (1447)   (in 
the  Church  of   the   Misericordia,  Empoli). 

2.  Terra-cotta  altarpiece  with  the  Annuncia- 
tion ;  by  Bernardo  Rossellino  (1433)  (in  the 
cathedral,  Arezzo) 223 

Plate  n — I.  Our  Lady  of  Pity ;  by  Bernardo 
Rossellino    (in    the    museum,   Arezzo).     2, 
Detail  from  the  Tabernacle  ;  by  Donatello 
(in  the  sacristy  of  S.  Peter's,  Rome)     .        .  227 
Art  in  France : — 

Portrait  by  Hans  Memlinc  (recently  acquired 

by  the  Louvre) 231 

Art  in  America : — 

Plate  I — I,  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  (before 
1770).     2.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  (1783). 

3.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  (not  later  than 
1771)  (all  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Francis 
Lathrop) 237 


PAGE 

Plate  II— 4.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  (1772). 

5.  Colour  print    by  Kiyonaga   {circa  ^1783). 

6.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  (circa  1779)  (all 

in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Francis  Lathrop)     .  240 

Plate  III — 7.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  [circa 
1783-87).  8.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga 
(circa  1783-87)  (both  in  the  collection  of  ^Ir. 
Francis  Lathrop)  ......  243 

Plate  IV — 9.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga  (1788 
or  later).  10.  Colour  print  by  Kiyonaga 
(circa  1790)  (both  in  the  collection  of  Mr. 
Francis  Lathrop) 246 

Elena  Grimaldi,  wife  of  Niccolo  Cattaneo  (from 
the  painting  by  Van  Dyck  in  the  collection 
of  Mr.  P.  A.  B.  Widener)      .         .         .         .250 

A  Bronze  Bust  of  Commodus  : — 

Bronze  Bust  of  the  Emperor  Commodus  and 
bronze  base  :  circa  a.d.  186-192  (in  the  col- 
lection of  Mr.  George  Salting)       .         .         .  253 

A  Ming  Bowl  with  Silver-gilt   Mounts  of  the 
Tudor  Period : — 
Ming   bowl  with    silver-gilt    mounts  of    the 
Tudor    period    (on    view   at  Messrs.  Owen 
Grant's,  Ltd.) 259 

English  lUummated  Manuscripts  at  the  Burling- 
ton Fine  Arts  Club  : — 

Plate  I — I.  Page  from  the  Yorkshire  Psalter, 
c.  1 170  (in  the  possession  of  the  University 
Court,  Glasgow).  2.  Initial  from  the  Win- 
chester Vulgate,  c.  1175  (in  the  possession 
of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Winchester). 
3.  Page  from  a  Psalter  written  for  a  nun  of 
St.  Mary's  Abbey,  Winchester,  c.  1220- 1240 
(in  the  possession  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge)   264 

Plate  II — I.  Page  from  Aldelmus  '  De  Virgini- 
tate.'  Late  tenth  century  (in  the  possession 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury).  2.  Page 
from  the  Windmill  Psalter.  Late  thirteenth 
century  (in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Pierpont 
Morgan)        .......  266 

Plate  III — Part  of  page  from  the  St.  Omer 
Psalter;  begun  c.  1325  (in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  H.  Yates  Thompson)      ....  269 

Plate  IV — I.  Page  from  the  Psalter  of  Humph- 
rey de  Bohun,  c.  1370  (in  the  possession  of 
Exeter  College,  Oxford).  2.  Page  from 
works  by  T.  Chaundler,  1457-1461  (in  the 
possession  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge)   .  272 

The  Medallist  Lysippus  : — 

Plate  I — Medals  by  Lysippus    ....  275 

Plate  II — Medals  by  Lysippus  .         .         .         .  281 

Plate  III — Medals  attributed  to  Lysippus        .  284 

The    Cracks    in    the    Ceiling    of    the    Sistine 
Chapel : — 
Central  portion  of  the  Sistine  ceiling  with  the 
natural  cracks  marked  in  black  ink       .        .  289 


VU 


LIST   OF   PLATES — co?itinued 


PAGE 

Alt  in  America:—  ,^  •   .    ,  • 

Plate  I— Rembrandt,  by  himself.  Painted  in 
1658   (in   the  collection   o£   Mr.   Henry   C. 

Frick)    .         .         .         •         ■    ,     ■,,      't-,     r 

pi;i^e  II_Portrait  of  Canevaro,  by  Van  Uyck 
(in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Frick)      . 

pi,\te  HI— I.  Filippo  Cattaneo,  by  Van  Dyck 
(in  the  collection  of  Mr.  P.  A.  B.  Widener  . 
-  Clelia  Cattaneo,  by  Van  Dyck  (in  the  col- 
Tection  of  Mr.  P.  A.  B.  Widener) . 
The  Swing;  by  jean  Antoine  Watteau  (in  the 
Jones      collection,     Victoria     and     Albert 

Museum) 

The  French  School  at  the  National  Gallery :— 

Plate  I— Portrait  of  Malibran  (?)  ;  attributed 
to  Ingres  (in  the  National  Gallery)       .         . 

Plate  n— I.  La  Main  Chaude  ;  by  J.  F.  de 
Troy  (presented  to  the  National  Gallery  by 
Lieut.-Colonel  Croft  Lyons).  2.  Elisa 
Bonaparte,  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany  ;  by 
David  (in  the  National  Gallery)    . 

Plate  HI— I.  Marsh  at  Arleux  du  Nord  ;  by 
Corot  (bequeathed  to  the  National  Gallery 
by  Mrs.  Edwin  Edwards).  2.  Noon  ;  by 
Corot  (lent  to  the  National  Gallery  by  Mr. 
George  Salting)    .         .         .         •,       •        : 

Plate  IV— The  Wood  Gatherer;  by  Corot 
(lent  to  the  National  Gallery  by  Mr.  George 
Salting) 

Plate  V— The  Bent  Tree  ;  by  Corot  (lent  to 
the  National  Gallery  by  Mr.  George  Salting)  335 

Plate  VI— I.  Sunny  Days  in  the  Forest  ;  by 
Diaz  (lent  to  the  National  Gallery  by  Mr. 
George  Salting).  2.  The  Storm;  by  Diaz 
(lent  to  the  National  Gallery  by  Mr.  George 
Salting) • 

Plate  VII— I.  Roses  ;  by  Fantm-Latour  (be- 
queathed to  the  National  Gallery  by  Mrs. 
Edwin  Edwards).  2.  The  Drawbridge  ;  by 
James  Maris  (lent  to  the  National  Gallery  by 

Mr.  J.  C.  Driicker) 

A  Watteau  in  the  Jones  Collection  : — 

Drawings  in  three  chalks;  by  Jean  Antoine 
Watteau  (in  the  Louvre)       .... 


307 
3" 


314 


318 


323 


26 


329 


332 


338 


341 


347 


PAGE 

Hairdressing  among  the  Ancient  Greeks  :— 
Plate  I— I.  Earliest  style  :  seventh  and  sixth 
centuries  b.c.  2.  Early  development. 
3.  Early  and  transitional  styles  after  the 
Persian  Wars,  4.  Fashionable  style  of  the 
fifth  century.  5.  The  fillet :  fifth  century. 
6.  The  melon  coiffure :  second  half  of  fifth 

century 35° 

Plate    II — 7.    Fifth    century,   simpler    mode. 

8.  Fifth  century,  combination  of  fashionable 
and   simpler  modes,   with   double   ribbon. 

9.  Another    use    of    the    double    ribbon. 

10.  The  knot  and  double  ribbon.     11.  De- 
velopment of  fig.  4  :  the  roll  with  wreath. 

12.  The  roll  with  diadem     ....  353 
Plate    III— 13.     Treatment    of    side     locks. 
14.  Further  stage  of  fig.  13.     15.  The  bow 
coiffure:  further  stage  of  figs.  13  and  14. 

16.  Development    of    the    bow    coiffure. 

17.  Hellenistic  period 356 

A  Terra-cotta  Bust  of  Thomas  Third   Earl  of 

Coventry,  by  John  Michael  Rysbrack  (in  the 
collection  of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort)      .        .  363 
Art  in  America  : — 

The  Cattaneo  Van  Dycks  :— 
The  Marchesa  Giovanna  Cattaneo  ;  by  Van 
Dyck  (in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Henry  C. 

Frick) 371 

Rembrandt  and  Girtin : — 

Easby  Abbey  ;  from  the  water-colour  draw- 
ing by  Thomas  Girtin  (recently  acquired 
by  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York)  374 
Cassone  fronts  and  Salvers  in  American  collec- 
tions : — 
Plate  III— I.  The  Capture  of  Salerno  by 
Robert  Guiscard  :  Florentine,  early  fif- 
teenth century  (in  the  MetropoUtan 
Museum,  New  York).  2.  The  Triumph 
of  Caesar  :  Florentine,  mid-fifteenth 
century  (in  the  Bryan-De  Montor  collec- 
tion, in  the  possession  of  the  New  York 

Historical  Society) 377 

Plate  IV — Love  Disarmed :  a  salver  by 
Girolamo  of  Siena  (in  the  Jarves  collec- 
tion, Yale  University)        ....  380 


VUl 


Sm^'WaJit^g^.Sc. 


EDITO    lAL  ARii: 
^  THE  PAi;  TER  AS  CRi .         ^ 

^    I  have  written  about  ti- 

the world  an   incalculable   bcivKc. 
;,.    -%  :  ■  vvritings  that  such   r--  •  ■>  - 
^s  of  the  traditions  c: 
thev  tell  us  tlie' little  we 
which  tri' 


T     was     annt 

last  month 

in?    ">-     '  ' 
c 


artf 


■       ay,  R. 
y  ort-«. : 

..:.:^'that    t...j 

L  ling  about  their  1 
art-criticwould  thus  appear  to  be/ 
the  devil  and  the  deep  sea.     Ij 
little   or   ~      '       ■    '  '"c   of  the 
parf  nf  •.  ondemnej 

P  f  he  has  mast/  -ed  it  1 

ble  for  membership  of  the  Old 
",  V  ater-Uolour  Society. 

No    sensible    person,    of    ll    ,  ,.,    who 

knows  anything  of  modern  ar^  literature 

would  take  Mr,  Murray's  stri<  urcs  very 

K-riously,  so  far  as  the  critics  <  f  our  best 

daily   and  weekly   papers    are  concerned. 

Of    their     knowledge     and       ompetence 

^  be  no  question,  and   o  condemn 

!ticism    as   a    whc  e,    without 

ralothti  thoroughly 

,. :ors  to  t  le  provincial 

t  ate  a  gri  ve  injustice. 

deny  that  a 

lai 

pir.v-,- 
best  . 
chant, . 
painter 

Thr 


— tliat  HI  ail 
ii  V.  juLi.iou  ui    ■. xpression  fits 
*'^    erartlv    that    we    cannot 
~    of  t  To    attain    this 

unity  is  the  aim  of  all  serious  pain: 
to  decide  how  far  it  has  been  af 
the  duty  of  all  serious  critics.     1 
should  be  among  our  most  emini 
one  or  two  who  are  not  known  t 
painters  is    rather  -a   t 
exceptional  taste  and  .-.! 
argument  against  the  gener 
ceteris  paribus,  a  practical   knov. 
painting  is  an  immense  help  tov  ..r 

iudgment. 

In  short,  the  increasing  frequency  with 
which  the  work  of  criticism  is   done  by 
professional  painters  is  a  thing,  I 
^'.eir  brother  artists  ought  to  be  c 
grateful  than  the  public.     It  is  ; 
to  understand  why  the  Old  Wat. 
should    formally   rec 
•    of  cri 


■5 


■m 


T 


EDITORIAL 
cA.  THE  PAINTER 

was     announced     early 


®=4 


last  month  by  the  'Morn- 
ing   Post '   that   the   Royal 
Society     of     Painters      in 
^^^  Water-Colours  had   passed 
^^ — i^n  rule  forbidding  its  mem- 


bers or  associates  to  publish  any  criticism  en 
the  work  of  living  artists.  Only  a  few  days 
later  the  newspapers  reported  an  attack 
made  by  Mr.  David  Murray,  R.A.,  upon 
contemporary  art-critics,  the  gist  of  com- 
plaint being  that  they  did  not  understand 
anything  about  their  business.  The  poor 
art-critic  would  thus  appear  to  be  between 
the  devil  and  the  deep  sea.  If  he  has 
little  or  no  knowledge  of  the  practical 
part  of  painting  he  is  condemned  by  the 
Royal  Academy  ;  if  he  has  mastered  it  he 
is  ineligible  for  membership  of  the  Old 
Water-Colour  Society. 

No  sensible  person,  of  course,  who 
knows  anything  of  modern  art  literature 
would  take  Mr.  Murray's  strictures  very 
seriously,  so  far  as  the  critics  of  our  best 
daily  and  weekly  papers  are  concerned. 
Of  their  knowledge  and  competence 
there  can  be  no  question,  and  to  condemn 
our  art  criticism  as  a  whole,  without 
excepting  these  and  several  other  thoroughly 
well-equipped  contributors  to  the  provincial 
press,  is  to  perpetrate  a  grave  injustice. 
It  would  be  equally  unjust  to  deny  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  art  criticism  in  the 
press  is  the  merest  hack-work  ;  and  the 
best  hope  for  its  improvement  lies  in  the 
chance  that  here  and  there  some  able 
painter  may  take  to  writing. 

The  few  painters,  from  Cennini  and 
Leonardo  to  Delacroix  and  Whistler,  who 


ARTICLE 
AS  CRITIC  rJkp 

have  written  about  their  art  have  done 
the  world  an  incalculable  service.  It  is 
in  their  writings  that  such  fragments  as 
we  possess  of  the  traditions  of  the  fine  arts 
survive  ;  they  tell  us  the  little  we  know 
of  the  spirit  in  which  the  great  masters 
approached  their  art,  of  the  working 
theories  of  design  by  which  they  were 
guided,  and  of  the  technical  processes 
which  they  employed. 

It  is  rarely  recognized  by  the  public, 
and  sometimes  forgotten  by  persons  of 
education,  that  in  painting  the  subject 
chosen  is  inevitably  connected  with  the 
technique  used  to  express  it — that  in  all 
perfect  art  the  method  of  expression  fits 
the  subject  so  exactly  that  we  cannot 
think  of  them  apart.  To  attain  this 
unity  is  the  aim  of  all  serious  painters  ; 
to  decide  how  far  it  has  been  attained  is 
the  duty  of  all  serious  critics.  That  there 
should  be  among  our  most  eminent  critics 
one  or  two  who  are  not  known  to  fame  as 
painters  is  rather  a  testimony  to  their 
exceptional  taste  and  scholarship  than  an 
argument  against  the  general  principle  that, 
ceteris  paribus,  a  practical  knowledge  of 
painting  is  an  immense  help  towards  fair 
judgment. 

In  short,  the  increasing  frequency  with 
which  the  work  of  criticism  is  done  by 
professional  painters  is  a  thing  for  which 
their  brother  artists  ought  to  be  even  more 
grateful  than  the  public.  It  is  thus  hard 
to  understand  why  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society  should  formally  record  its  veto 
upon  the  very  form  of  criticism  which  its 
more  capable  members  should  be  the  first  to 
welcome.  We  trust  the  rumour  is  incorrect. 


Thb  Burungton  Magazine,  No,  6i    Vol.  XUl— April,  1908, 


SOME   NOTES   ON   THE   ORIGIN  AND    THE    DEVELOPMENT 
OF  THE   ENAMELLED  PORCELAIN  OF  THE  CHINESE— I 
^  BY  EDWARD  DILLON  ^^ 


'HEN  the  attention  of  the 
collector  is  first  directed 
to  a  new  branch  of  art  it 
is   the   artistic   merit,    or 
I  what  he  regards  as  such, 
that  alone  appeals  to  him. 
But  before  long  the  spirit 
of    the   antiquary    insidi- 
ously works  its  way  in.     The  enamelled  plaque  or 
the  porcelain  vase  comes  to  be  valued  not  for  its 
aesthetic  charm  alone.    Its  relation  to  other  pieces 
of  the   same   class,   its   age   above   all,   are   now 
elements  in  the  estimation  of  its  value.     It  seems, 
indeed,  to  be  an  invariable  law  in  what  may  be 
called  the  history  of  aesthetic  appreciation  that,  as 
time  goes  on,  more  and  more  interest  is  taken  in 
the  work  of  early  days.  In  the  case  both  of  pictures 
and  of  classical  sculpture  this  pushing  back  of  the 
centre  of  interest  began  many  years  ago  ;  indeed, 
of  late  years  there  have  been  signs  that  this  archa- 
izing tendency  has  been  exhausted,  and  that  the 
movement  is  now  in  the  other  direction.     The  art 
of   the   seventeenth   and   still   more   that   of   the 
eighteenth    century   is    again    in   the   ascendant. 
Special  points  of  merit  have  been  found  in  the 
sculpture  of  the  early  Empire,  and  even  that  of  the 
age  of  Constantine  has  found  defenders. 

But  no  such  return  current  is  yet  to  be  found  in 
the  case  of  the  appreciation  of  the  potter's  art.  In 
the  estimation  of  the  artistic  merit  of  Greek  vases 
the  throwing  back  of  the  centre  of  interest  began 
some  time  since,  and  now  it  is  not  the  pottery  of 
what  is  known  as  the  '  fine '  period  that  appeals  to 
some  of  us  most  strongly.  There  is  a  strength 
and  a  '  fitness'  in  the  black  figure  ware  of  the  days 
before  the  Persian  War  that  had  in  a  measure 
passed  away  before  the  end  of  the  fifth  century. 
So  again  in  the  case  of  Italian  majolica.  There 
are  many  who  feel  that  something  had  been  lost 
when  the  bold  and  simple  decoration  of  earlier 
times  had  given  place  to  the  elaborate  grotesques 
and  careful  figure  painting  of  the  cinqiicceiito. 
Even  if  we  turn  to  the  Nearer  East,  to  the 
Mahomedan  lands  where  the  calm  enjoyment  of 
rich  colour  and  graceful  pattern  is  less  subject  to 
development  or  mere  change  of  fashion,  not  a  few 
collectors  take  now  a  keener  interest  in  the  lustred 
tiles  and  rudely  glazed  jars  of  the  early  thirteenth 
century  than  in  the  gorgeous  wares  of  Rhodes  and 
Damascus. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  insidious  penetration  of 
the  spirit  of  the  antiquary  as  something  likely  to 
bias  the  native  artistic  judgment.  But  of  course 
the  riper  judgment  that  comes  of  wider  and  deeper 
knowledge  has  in  it  elements  of  a  purely  aesthetic 
nature.  There  grows  up,  above  all,  a  recognition 
of  the  spontaneity  and  of  the  simplicity  of  aim  in 
the  earlier  work  resulting  in  a  more   satisfying 


'fitness.'  On  the  other  hand,  the  increase  of 
mechanical  facility,  the  enlarging  of  the  artist's 
palette,  these  have  been  snares  that  have  hampered 
the  directness  and  vigour  of  the  craftsman's  work. 
There  are,  then,  two  elements  that  have  been  at 
work  in  this  pushing-back  in  time  of  the  centre  of 
interest  in  a  historical  series  of  objects  of  art. 
One,  the  mere  '  glamour  of  time,'  it  should  be  the 
duty  of  the  critic  to  eliminate  ;  while  the  other, 
depending  upon  the  superior  directness  and  spon- 
taneity to  be  found  in  the  work  of  the  earlier 
period,  cannot  be  too  prominently  brought  for- 
w^ard  and  accentuated. 

Now,  in  the  case  of  Chinese  porcelain  we  are 
dealing  with  the  work  of  a  people  with  whom  this 
'  laudation  of  bygone  days '  amounts  almost  to  a 
religion.     One  strange  result  has  been  that  every 
advance  in  technique,  every  evolution  of  style,  has 
crept  in  by  side  paths  or  has  been  disguised  as  a 
return  to  the  practice  of  the  great  men  of  old. 
The  spirit  of  the  antiquary  has  ruled  so  firmly 
that  the  aesthetic  judgment  has  in  every  case  had 
to  bow  before  it.     Here,  then,  the  critic  of  art  will 
have  much  to  eliminate,  and   in  endeavouring  to 
unravel  that  most  tangled  problem,  the  evolution 
of  the  potter's  art  in  China,  this  antiquarian  bias 
of  the  native  mind  must  ever  be  kept  in  view.     In 
groping  one's  way  back  to  the  earlier  work  one  is 
met,  not   once   only,   but  many   times   over,    by 
revivals,  more  or  less  skilfully  carried  out,  of  old 
designs  and  technical  processes.     Pitfalls  not  un- 
like but  more  complicated  than  those  that  beset 
the  unravelling  of  the  history  of  Greek  sculpture 
surround  on  every  side  the  history  of  Chinese  art. 
With  us  it  is  only  quite  of  late  years  that  this 
tendency  to  fall  back  upon  the  work  of  early  times 
has  spread  to  the  admirers  of  Oriental  porcelain. 
This   change   of   taste  has  been  reflected  in  the 
demand  for  the  wares  of  the  Ming  period.     Now, 
although   there   may   be   some   grounds   for   this 
change  of  view  in  the  case  of  the  '  self-coloured ' 
and  '  blue  and  white  '  wares,  I  think  that  when  the 
whole  series  of  the  enamelled  porcelain  of  China 
is  ranged  in  chronological  order,  it  will  be  found 
that  little  that  was  made  before  the  reign  of  Kang- 
he — this  is  our '  fine'  period — has  any  commanding 
claim  for  artistic  recognition. 

It  is,  indeed,  only  with  this  last  group— the 
enamelled  ware—  that  I  am  concerned  here.  I  shall 
attempt  to  trace  out  some  of  the  grounds  for  the 
relative  inferiority  of  the  earlier  work.  With 
regard  to  the  other  groups  I  may  say  in  passing, 
that  although  as  regards  the  material  itself — the 
porcelain— the  Chinese  have  undisputed  right  to 
be  regarded  as  the  inventors  and  indeed  the  mono- 
polisers of  the  art  for  a  period  of  nearly  a  thousand 
years,  coloured  glazes  were  certainly  in  use  upon 
pottery  of  various  kinds  in  Western  Asia  long  before 


they  were  known  to  the  Chinese.  To  say  nothing 
of  the  Egyptian  wares,  the  turquoise  glazes  of  the 
Persians  were  fully  developed  at  a  time  when  the 
Chinese  were  contented  with  a  rude  stone  ware, 
either  unglazed  or  covered  with  a  thin  colourless 
glassy  skin.  Indeed,  later,  in  Sassanian  times, 
when  a  fairly  regular  intercourse  had  been  estab- 
lished between  the  Nearer  and  the  Farther  East,  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  the  Chinese  of  the  Tang  or 
earlier  dynasties  may  have  learned  much  from  their 
western  neighbours.  Again,  in  the  case  of  the 
decoration  with  cobalt-blue  under  the  glaze,  it  is  a 
question  whether  the  process  was  not  in  use  in 
Syria  and  perhaps  in  Persia  before  the  potters  of 
the  '  Middle  Kingdom '  had  advanced  beyond  a 
monochrome  ware.  The  Chinese  native  authorities 
trace  back  their  '  blue  and  white '  ware  to  the 
time  of  the  Mongol  dynasty  (thirteenth  century). 
We  have  indeed  in  our  collections  no  examples  of 
this  ware  of  anything  like  so  early  a  date.  On  the 
other  hand  not  a  few  specimens  of  Syrian  pottery 
of  the  thirteenth  or  possibly  twelfth  century,  rudely 
decorated  with  patches  of  cobalt-blue  under  a  thick 
glaze  of  alkaline  silicate,  have  lately  found  their 
way  to  the  West.  It  is  possible  that  the  type,  if  not 
actual  examples,  of  the  earliest  application  of  under- 
glaze  blue  by  the  Chinese  may  be  found  in  a 
certain  class  of  crackle  porcelain,  or  perhaps  rather 
stoneware,  roughly  daubed  with  blue  under  the 
glaze  that,  together  with  large,  heavy  pieces  of  the 
early  '  Martabani '  celadon,  has  been  found  in 
Borneo  and  the  adjacent  islands. 

I  now  come  to  what  is  indeed  the  main  issue  in 
this  '  preliminary  inquiry.'  The  question  proposed 
is  :  When  and  under  what  conditions  did  the 
Chinese  first  apply  to  the  glazed  surface  of  their 
porcelain  a  decoration  of  coloured  enamels  ?  By 
the  term  enamel  is  meant,  in  this  case,  a  flux  con- 
sisting of  a  lead  silicate  coloured  by  various 
metallic  oxides.  It  may  be  confessed  at  once  that 
no  definite  answer  can  be  given  to  this  question. 
All  that  I  can  hope  to  do  is  to  sum  up  the  evidence 
that  is  available  and  to  accentuate  the  few  facts 
that  are  definitely  known. 

It  is  perhaps  a  result  of  the  general  law  of  aesthetic 
appreciation  referred  to  at  the  beginning  of  this 
article  that  the  word  '  Ming '  has  of  late  become 
a  name  to  conjure  with  ;  this  is  to  be  observed 
above  all  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bond  Street, 
where  the  demand  has  brought  forward  a  ready 
supply.  Now,  apart  from  a  few,  a  very  few,  really 
old  pieces,  the  '  Ming  ware'  that  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  shop  windows  of  London  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes; —  (i)  Examples  of  archaistic  porcelain 
of  the  time  of  Kang-he,  and  perhaps  still  more  of 
his  successors  Yung-ching  and  Kien-lung. 
(2)  Quite  modem  ware  turned  out  from  kilns  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Pekin  and  destined  for  the 
European  and  American  market.  It  is  difficult  to 
learn  much  of  what  is  going  on  now  at  King-te- 


Qhinese  Enamelled  Porcelain 

chen,  the  old  centre  of  the  Chinese  porcelain 
industry.  Probably  the  orders  are  sent  down  from 
the  court  as  in  old  days.  The  aged  empress  is 
said  to  be  a  connoisseur  in  porcelain  as  in  other 
departments  of  art,  but  I  cannot  say  what  class  of 
ware  is  now  made  for  the  palace.  How  far  the 
Japanese  may  now  compete  with  the  North  China 
kilns  is  again  a  moot  point.  It  is  not  the  business 
of  the  wholesale  importer  to  keep  separate  the 
goods  that  arrive  from  the  different  eastern  ports. 
This  was,  indeed,  the  case  as  long  ago  as  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  it  was  this  mystification 
surrounding  the  place  of  origin  of  the  porcelain 
imported  that  gave  rise  to  such  misleading  terms 
as  'East  Indian' or  *  Batavian.'  Both  the  paste 
and  the  glaze  of  Japanese  porcelain  may  generally 
be  readily  distinguished  from  those  of  their  conti- 
nental masters,  but  I  have  seen  a  few  ambitious 
examples  of  Japanese  ware  that  approach  closely 
to  the  Chinese  type.  As  long  ago  as  the  seventies 
of  the  last  century  some  skilfully  potted  vases  of 
enamelled  ware  were  turned  out  from  a  kiln  near 
Yokohama.  They  were  perhaps  made  with  im- 
ported clay — in  any  case,  they  were  difficult  to 
distinguish  from  the  best  Chinese  work  of  the  time 
of  Kang-he. 

What,  then,  are  the  criteria  by  which  the  porce- 
lain— especially  the  enamelled  porcelain — made  in 
China  during  the  Ming  dynasty  may  be  identified  ? 
Before  attempting  to  answer  that  question  it  may 
be  well  to  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  history  of 
this  native  Chinese  dynasty  that  ruled  the  country 
for  nearly  three  hundred  years  (i  368-1 643)  to  see 
if  we  can  discover  any  facts  bearing  upon  the 
development  of  the  ceramic  art  during  that  period. 
What  we  find  is  that  this  dynasty,  like  so  many 
others  in  China  and  elsewhere,  reached  its  maxi- 
mum of  power  within  a  short  period  after  its 
foundation.  Under  two  able  but  short-lived  rulers, 
Yung-lo  and  Hsuan-te,  the  empire  during  the 
early  years  of  the  fifteenth  century  attained  to  a 
strength  and  unity  that  are  reflected  in  the  arts  of 
the  period.  Shortly  after  this  time  the  country  was 
invaded  by  the  Mongols,  and  the  emperor  himself 
made  prisoner.  Although  somewhat  later,  with 
Cheng-hua,  a  great  name  in  the  annals  of  porce- 
1am,  there  was  some  revival,  the  succeeding  six- 
teenth century  was  on  the  whole  a  period  of 
decline.  We  hear  more  and  more  of  the  tyranny 
and  the  extortion  of  the  eunuchs  who  governed 
the  provinces  while  the  emperor  himself  remained 
secluded  in  his  palace  at  Pekin.  In  vain  did  the 
censors  protest.  Of  Lung-king  (1567-1572)  we 
are  told  that  '  the  emperor  was  devoted  to  the 
pleasures  of  his  seraglio,  and  his  libertine  tempera- 
ment is  reflected  in  the  decoration  of  the  porce- 
lain, which  is  notorious  for  its  erotic  character ' 
(Bushcll,  '  Ceramic  Art,'  p.  234).  His  successor, 
Wan-li,  who  reigned  from  1572  to  1619,  is  the  last 
of  whom  we  hear  in  connexion  with  the  imperial 


Qhinese  Enamelled  Porcelain 

porcelain  at  King-te-chen.  It  was  a  time  of 
relaxation  of  manners.  The  censors  protested  m 
vain  against  the  intrusion  of  the  influence  of  the 
western  barbarians,  whose  merchants  at  Canton 
and  other  ports  were  now  eagerly  competing  for 
trade  privileges.  As  in  more  recent  times,  this 
filtering  in  of  foreign  habits  and  tastes  was  asso- 
ciated by  the  upholders  of  the  old  traditions  with 
the  decline  of  morals  and  the  decadence  of  art. 
This  is  a  point  that  has  to  be  borne  in  mmd  m 
connexion  with  the  porcelain  produced  at  the 
time.  There  then  followed  a  period  of  warfare 
and  confusion,  during  which  the  Ming  dynasty 
came  to  an  end.  But  it  was  precisely  durmg  this 
period  that  for  the  first  time  a  steady  and  extensive 
demand  for  Chinese  porcelain  arose,  not  only  hi 
Europe,  but,  on  a  far  larger  scale,  in  Persia  and  in 
the  Hindustan  of  the  Mogul  emperors.  In  fact, 
from  our  point  of  view,  this  period  of  confusion 
which  continued,  in  the  south  especially,  for 
several  years  after  the  accession  of  Kang-he  (1661), 
may  well  be  classed  with  the  latter  part  at  least  of 
the  reign  of  Wan-li.  For  this  period,  one  that  is 
generally  ignored  by  writers  on  the  subject  of 
Chinese  porcelain  (from,  say,  1600  to  about  1680), 
it  would  be  well  if  we  could  find  a  general  name. 
I  can  only  suggest  some  such  term  as  '  the  period 
of  Indo-Persian  influence,'  or'  of  the  seventeenth 
century  decadence.' 

The  first  great  emperor  of  the  succeeding — the 
Manchu — dynasty  began  his  long  reign  in  i66r. 
This  was  Kang-he,  the  Roi  Soldi  of  China.  But,  as 
in  the  case  of  his  contemporary  in  France,  it  was 
not  till  some  twenty  years  after  his  succession  that 
Kang-he  was  master  of  the  whole  country.  In 
1677,  on  the  occasion  of  an  important  rebellion, 
King-te-chen  was  burnt  down  and  the  kilns  de- 
stroyed, and  it  was  probably  only  after  this  time 
that  any  start  was  made  with  the  renaissance  of 
porcelain  at  King-te-chen.' 

Indeed,  as  we  can  now  understand,  from  the 
sixteenth  century  to  the  present  day  there  have 
been  two  competing  demands  upon  the  potters  of 
King-te-chen.  Of  these,  that  for  the  supply  of  the 
imperial  palace  has  on  the  whole  tended  to  the 
preservation  of  old  traditions  and  to  the  ignoring 
of  new  processes  and  schemes  of  decoration.  The 
other  demand  has  come  from  the  merchants  at  the 
ports  of  export — in  later  days  the  Treaty  Ports — 
who  were  eager  to  be  provided  with  a  class  of 
porcelain  suitable  to  the  wants  of  the  countries 
with  which  they  traded.  If  the  first  of  these 
demands  was  dominant,  the  porcelain  produced 
was  likely  to  be  of  great  technical  excellence,  but 
the  shapes  and  the  decorations  had  to  follow  on 
the   old  lines.     When,  on    the   other   hand,   the 

•  If,  hawever,  we  are  to  accept  the  viceroy  Lang  Tiag-tso  as 
the  originator  of  the  famous  san-^-dc-bienf  ware,  the  Lanl-yao 
of  the  Chinese,  then  the  revival  must  have  come  about  before 
the  rebellion  of  the  seventies.     But  this,  I  think,  is  doabtful. 


private  kilns  were  busy  in  executing  orders  for  the 
export  trade,  there  would  be  an  opportunity  for 
introducing  new  and  exotic  shapes,  and  full  play 
would  be  given  to  the  use  of  coloured  enamels  in 
the  decoration.  All  through  the  Ming  period  this 
foreign  influence  was  probably  in  a  measure  at 
work,  but  it  was  not  until  the  commencement  of 
the  seventeenth  century  that  it  became  dominant. 
At  the  same  time  there  was,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
the  case  of  the  demand  from  Pekin,  a  relaxation  of 
the  old  time-honoured  restrictions.  No  wonder, 
then,  that  in  the  reign  of  Wan-li  the  new  spirit  was 
carrying  everything  before  it.  This  is  what,  for 
us,  gives  so  much  interest  to  the  porcelain  of  this 
period,  especially  to  the  class  which  is  decorated 
with  enamel  colours.  There  is  undoubtedly  at 
times  an  exotic  influence  to  be  found  both  in  the 
shapes  and  in  the  patterns  of  the  decoration.  But 
these  new  shapes  and  designs  do  not  point,  as  was 
the  case  later  on,  to  a  European  origin.  It  is 
rather  of  the  patterns  on  the  textile  fabrics  of  India 
and  Persia  that  we  are  reminded.  So  among  the 
shapes  we  find  the  graceful  ibraik  and  the  water- 
vessel  for  the  hookah. 

The  Wan-li  enamelled  wares  have  a  claim  to  our 
attention  in  that,  as  a  whole,  they  form  a  well- 
marked  and  easily  identified  class.  Unlike  what 
we  find  in  the  case  of  the  date-marks  of  the  earlier 
Ming  emperors,  the  nieii-hao  of  Wan-li,  when 
found  upon  a  piece  of  porcelain,  may  be  accepted 
as  indicating  the  true  date.^ 

The  importance  of  the  enamelled  porcelain  of 
Wan-li  depends  upon  the  following  facts  :  (i)  It 
is  the  earliest  porcelain  enamelled  over  the  glaze 
to  which  we  can  give  a  definite  date.  (2)  Of  the 
two  main  classes  into  which  it  falls,  one,  developed 
from  the  underglaze  blue  ware,  is  the  primary  type 
of  the  largest  family  of  decorated  ware  to  be  found 
in  the  history  of  porcelain.  It  is  a  family  that 
includes  a  large  part  of  the  enamelled  wares  of 
China,  of  Japan,  and  (variously  modified)  of  the 
eighteenth-century  porcelain  of  Europe.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  second  type  of  Wan-li  enamelled 
porcelain,  with  dominant  iron-red,  although  it  ap- 
pears to  have  had  neither  ancestors  nor  successors 
in  China,  has  found  many  imitators  in  Japan. 

There  are,  then,  grounds  enough,  it  would  seem, 
at  least  from  the  kiinst-historisch  point  of  view,  for 
claiming  a  position  of  some  distinction  for  these 
Wan-li  enamels.  Nor  when  looked  at  from  the 
artistic  side  are  these  boldly  executed  and  richly 
coloured  designs  without  charm.  And  yet  this 
ware  has  found  little  favour  with  collectors,  either 
with  us  in  the  West  or  in  China.     It  is  only  the 

-  The  same,  I  think,  may  be  said  of  the  mark  of  his  prede- 
cessor, the  short-lived  Lung-king.  The  porcelain  of  these  two 
reigns  is  always  classed  together  by  the  Chinese.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  the  date-mark  of  Wan-li,  which  generally 
takes  the  exceptional  form  of  an  oblong  cartouche  placed  in  a 
prominent  position,  has  been  often  copied  in  later  times  in 
Japan. 


1.  VASE  WITH   DATE-MARK  OF  CHENG-HUA  (H.c.  18iN.> 

2.  VASE   WITH    DATE-MARK   OF  WAN-LI  (H.C.  19  IN.) 


1 


Japanese  who  have  appreciated  its  merits.  For 
the  native  connoisseur,  this  ware,  no  doubt, 
represents  a  time  of  decadence  and  of  '  barbaric 
influence.  The  Western  collector  finds  fault  with 
the  generally  rough  character  of  the  moulding  and 
the  decoration.  Though  by  no  means  very  rare, 
what  I  may  call  the  characteristic  types  of  Wan-li 
porcelain  seldom  find  a  place  in  our  collections, 
even  in  those  that  claim  to  give  a  special  recogni- 
tion to  so-called  Ming  wares. 

Now,  in  an  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  history 
of  decorated  porcelain,  the  more  logical  course 
would  doubtless  be  to  begin  with  the  primitive  forms 
and  to  follow  forward  the  development  of  the 
genre.  We  are,  however,  so  much  in  the  dark 
concerning  the  early  history,  and  so  much  con- 
fusion prevails  on  the  subject,  that  the  wiser  plan 
will  perhaps  be  to  fix  once  for  all  on  the  reader's 
mind  the  two  types  of  enamelled  porcelain  that, 
as  I  have  said,  were  after  all  the  earliest  of  which 
we  have  any  definite  knowledge.  Both  these  types 
appear  to  take  their  origin  in  the  reign  of  Wan-li 
or  in  that  of  his  short-lived  predecessor. 

Let  us  then  take  the  group  in  which  an  iron- 
red  holds  the  dominant  place  in  the  decoration. 
The  class  is  well  represented  in  the  British  Museum 
collection,  and  the  vase  illustrated  in  the  colour 
plate  (No.  2f  may  be  taken  as  typical ;  it  is  a  good 
example  of  a  form  that  is  characteristic  of  the 
period.  The  vase  is  of  square  section,  evidently 
shaped  in  a  mould,  with  four  mask  handles,  the 
whole  imitating  in  shape  an  old  bronze.  It  is 
enamelled  with  dragons  and  phoenixes,  and  next 
to  the  iron-red  a  leafy  copper-green  is  the  most 
noticeable  colour  ;  there  are  also  a  few  touches  of 
yellow;  and  the  decoration,  which  is  distinctly  of  a 
brocade-like  character,  had  its  start  in  some  cobalt- 
blue  under  the  glaze.     In  a  prominent  position 

^  The  ciloar-plate  is  reproduced  here  from  '  Porcelain,' by 
Edwird  Dillon,  by  kind  permission  of  the  publishers,  Messrs. 
Methuen  and  Co. 


Qhinese  Enamelled  Porcelain 

under  the  upper  edge,  within  a  horizontal  car- 
touche, may  be  read,  'Dai  Ming  IVnn-li  nien  shi' 
(made  in  the  period  Wan-li).  Vases  of  this 
description,  of  all  sizes,  are,  as  I  have  said,  by  no 
means  uncommon.  Smaller  examples  of  a  very 
similar  ware  are  often  found  in  Japan,  and  the 
decoration,  applied  to  stoneware  as  well  as  to 
porcelain,  has  there  been  copied  in  more  than 
one  place. 

There  is  a  ruder  subdivision  of  this  family 
where  the  enamels  are  confined  to  the  iron-red 
and  the  leafy  green.  These  enamels  are  boldly 
and  hastily  applied  in  heavy  masses  on  the  white 
ground.  Such  decoration  is  found,  above  all,  on 
large  dishes,  rudely  potted  for  the  most  part ;  there 
are  several  examples  in  the  British  Museum. 
Here  again  this  picturesque  but  rather  rough  ware — 
it  can  hardly  be  the  produce  of  the  kilns  of  King- 
te-chen — has  found  favour  with  the  Japanese.  At 
the  old  castle  town  of  Inuyama,  in  the  province 
of  Owari,  I  came,  many  years  ago,  upon  a  lately 
abandoned  kiln  where,  among  other  wares,  plates 
of  a  kaolinic  stoneware,  hardly  to  be  classed  as 
porcelain,  had  been  decorated  in  a  manner  closely 
following  the  Wan-li  ware  I  have  just  described. 
Here  we  have  a  typical  example  of  that  survival  of 
Ming  traditions  that  is  so  characteristic  of  Japanese 
porcelain  as  a  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
China  it  would  seem  that  neither  type  of  this 
decoration  with  dominant  iron-red  has  found 
favour  in  subsequent  days.* 

In  the  concluding  part  of  this  paper  I  shall 
attempt  to  show  the  relation  of  these  Wan-li 
enamels  on  the  one  hand  to  the  earlier  Ming  wares 
and  on  the  other  to  the  manifold  developments  of 
the  time  of  Kang-he. 

{To  be  continued.) 

^The  rudely  enamelled  ware  was,  perhaps,  specially  made 
for  exportation  to  semi-barbarous  lands.  Something  very  like  it 
has  been  found  both  in  the  Philippines  and  in  Ceylon. 


PUVIS    DE    CHAVANNES:    A    CHAPTER    FROM  'MODERN 

PAINTERS  ' 


^  BY  CHARLES  RICKETTS 


rJk? 


lEW  personalities  in  the  art  of 
ithe  nineteenth  century  afford 
'such  scope  for  study  and  specu- 
lation as  Puvis  de  Chavannes. 
If  we  accept  Taine's  aphorism 
Uhat  art  is  the  result  of  an 
^environment,  how  shall  we 
I  account  for  the  work  of  this 
man  who  dealt  in  quintessences  and  abstractions  in 
a  period  devoted  to  the  noting  of  detail  and  inci- 
dent ?  Yet,  if  we  allow  Mr.  Huystnans's  angry 
contradiction  of  Taine's  theory,  and  consider 
art  as  a    revolt    from   its    environment,   we  are 


hardly  nearer  a  solution  of  the  problem,  since  the 
work  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes  is  lacking  in  the 
element  of  revolt  and  impatience  which  has  often 
characterized  the  painting  of  the  century.  It  is 
probable  that  Taine  is  nearer  the  truth  than  is 
Huysmans.  Neither  theory  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  creative  impulse  in  man  which  would  seem 
to  follow  a  course  known  only  to  itself,  in  which 
the  environment  may  count  in  so  far  that  it  can 
thwart  or  destroy,  just  as  an  accident  may  put  an 
end  to  a  precious  life,  yet  a  noble  and  stimulating 
environment  may  fail  to  bring  about  its  reflection 
in  art  or  be  badly  served  by  it.     This  was  the  case 


T^uvis  de  Qhavannes 


with  the  first  Empire,  while  the  ignoble  reaction 
accompanying  the  Restoration  was  the  signal  for 
the  romantic  upheaval ;  thus  in  a  period  devoted 
mainly  to  the  transaction  of  small  affairs,  in  a 
period  without  the  desire  for  epical  art — without 
the  need  of  churches  and  palaces — we  witness  the 
work  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes,  who  strove  for  the 
noblest  tasks,  and  who  would  have  been  equal  to 
satisfying  the  cravings  of  some  genial  Tyrant  or 
Pope  desirous  of  seeing  the  history  of  the  world 
painted  in  his  palace  within  his  lifetime. 

The  moment  has  not  yet  come  in  which  to  view 
the  case  of  Piivis  de  Chavannes  from  sufficient 
distance  to  establish  a  plausible  theory  for  his 
tendencies  :  in  a  sense  he  is  less  comprehensible 
than  some  earlier  masters — that  is,  less  easy  to 
class.  He  is  more  remote  than  Delacroix,  who 
is  now  comfortably  placed  in  galleries  devoted 
to  the  old  masters ;  he  is  still  more  removed 
from  most  of  us  than  is  Courbet,  to  whom  we 
owe  the  impulse  still  obtaining  in  naturalism  and 
its  descendant,  impressionism.  True,  we  can 
class  together  a  few  facts  which  may  serve  to 
explain  Puvis's  technical  origin ;  we  can  trace 
the  germ  of  his  early  manner  in  a  few  experi- 
mental paintings  by  Chasseriau  (when  still  under 
the  partial  influence  of  Ingres)  and  so  back  to 
Poussin.  This  plausible  explanation  might  satisfy 
a  Frenchman  ;  it  accounts  for  something  in 
his  early  method  of  drawing,  for  something  in  his 
sense  of  gesture  ;  in  these  things  he  can  be  placed 
in  a  sequent  but  not  unbroken  line  of  French 
masters.  Yet  to  all  this  we  must  add  the  new  spirit 
pervading  even  his  earliest  works,  which  is  not 
Roman  as  with  Poussin,  not  neo-Greek  as  with 
Ingres,  nor  Ionian  and  exotic  as  with  Chasseriau. 
To  the  efforts  of  these  great  artists  towards  a  plastic 
and  poetic  synthesis  Puvis  de  Chavannes  has 
added  a  more  racy  sense  of  the  French  soil,  a 
more  human  and  comprehensive  vision,  and  in  the 
construction,  method  and  aspect  of  his  paintings 
he  has  brought  a  mass  of  new  qualities  which 
rank  him  among  the  great  designers  in  the  history 
of  art. 

It  is  often  stated  that  the  nineteenth  century  has 
seen  a  new  conquest  of  nature  in  the  art  of  land- 
scape painting  :  to  some  it  would  seem  that  the 
field  of  artistic  expression  has  thus  been  almost 
indefinitely  enlarged  ;  to  others,  more  sceptical, 
there  would  seem  to  be  a  danger  in  this  apparent 
escape  from  control  and  the  substitution  of  the 
mood  of  a  man  (out  of  doors)  for  that  more  com- 
plex expression  of  life  and  experience  which  is 
the  field  of  the  figure  painter.  The  fact  is  too 
often  overlooked  that  the  greater  art  includes 
the  less,  and  that  landscape  painting  has  been 
discovered  and  its  essential  conventions  invented 
by  figure  painters. 

Let  us  rule  out,  for  convenience,  the  pale  aerial 
backgrounds    of     Piero     della      Francesca,    the 

10 


dewy  distances  of  Memling  and  other  unsurpass- 
able, if  subordinate,  renderings  of  ground  and  sky 
by  the  masters  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  accept 
the  fact  that  the  modern  conception  of  landscape 
painting  was  invented  by  Titian.  The  essentials  of 
landscape,  namely  the  undulating  structure  of  the 
ground,  the  rooting  and  branching  of  trees,  the 
broken  illumination  of  distances  and  the  study  of 
afternoon  clouds,  owe  their  discovery  to  him  : 
Titian's  personal  and  splendid  rendering  of  these 
beautiful  things  has  obscured  the  fact  that  they 
represent  the  stock-in-trade  of  nearly  all  subsequent 
landscape  painting.  Rubens  will  add  more  move- 
ment and  glitter,  Turner  and  Constable  even  more, 
yet  the  pattern  remains  almost  unaltered,namely  the 
undulating  foreground,  the  large  and  small 
balancing  masses  of  trees  and  the  rolling  vista 
beyond.  The  composing  masses  are  more  varied 
with  Rubens,  with  Turner  they  are  often  more 
formal  (nearer  to  the  architecture  of  the  theatre 
vista).  With  Corot,  in  his  larger  works,  the  pattern 
is  still  traditional,  a  denuded  bough  cuts  across 
the  two  balancing  tree  masses,  and  the  distant 
water  in  the  backgrounds  of  Titian  has  become 
the  gleam  of  a  lake.  With  each  master  the  pigment 
tends  to  a  more  broken  surface  and  the  colour 
undergoes  a  drastic  modification, but  in  some  degree 
the  same  romantic  climaxes  in  nature  are  chosen, 
and  the  scene  flooded  with  broken  lights  and 
shadows.  Watteau,  one  of  the  greatest  landscape 
painters,  anticipates  something  of  the  melancholy 
grace  which  characterizes  the  art  of  Corot ;  but  in 
all  these  masters,  including  even  Constable,  Titian's 
plume-like  trees  have  remained.  Corot  escapes 
from  them  in  chance  studies  from  nature,  in  the 
rendering  of  the  willows  and  poplars  of  the  north 
of  France.  I  would  admit  that  in  the  chronology 
of  landscape  painting  the  modification  of  the 
Titian  formula  has  been  considerable,'  without, 
however,  breaking  with  the  mould.  The  change 
in  the  use  of  pigment  has  been  enormous,  ranging 
from  shapely,  controlled  brushwork  to  a  convention 
in  which  the  touch  is  shapeless  as  with  Constable. 
The  range  in  tonality  has  gone  from  gold  to  silver, 
from  amber  to  ashes,  ranging  from  sunset  to  dawn, 
but  always  within  the  same  pictorial  scheme,  in 
which  the  spectator  stands  some  distance  from 
the  scene  as  if  viewing  it  through  a  window. 

With  Nicolas  Poussin,  though  his  indebtedness 
to  Titian  would  seem  enormous,  we  have  one  of 
the  greatest  architects  of  landscape,  the  equal  of 
Titian  in  the  construction  of  the  ground,  and  the 
superior  of  Rubens  and  Turner  in  this  particular. 
With  N.  Poussin  the  construction  of  the  banks  of 
a  river  or  winding  road,  the  architecture  of  a  hill 
and  horizon,  reduces  the  drawing  in  the  pictures  of 
Caspar  Dughet  and  Claude  to  the  level  of   mere 

'Notably  with  occasional  works  of  Turner,  the  most  experi- 
mental of  all  landscape  painters,  if  at  other  times  he  is  the  most 
arbitrary  and  even  conventional,  showing  even  the  influence  of 
Claude. 


T^uvis  de  Qhavannes 


scene  painting.  I  believe  that  the  constructive 
element  in  Poussin  counts  for  something  in  the 
evolution  of  landscape  achieved  by  Puvis  de 
Cbavannes. 

I  am  aware  that  a  totally  new  view  of  nature, 
owing  almost  nothing  to  Titian,  will  be  traced 
among  chance  studies  of  road  and  wind-swept 
canals  drawn  by  Rembrandt,-  but  these  were  un- 
known even  to  Milltt  and  Puvis,  and  they  have, 
therefore,  had  no  influence  on  the  evolution  of 
landscape  painting  ;  we  prize  one  or  two  pictures 
by  that  delightful  but  unequal  little  master,  John 
Crome,  for  a  hint  at  this  more  intimate  or  humble 
outlook  upon  nature  which  belonged  to  Rem- 
brandt.    Perhaps  their  influence  is  yet  to  come. 

If  the  influence  of  Constable's  experimental 
workmanship  has  been  enormous,  it  can  hardly  be 
said  that  he  brought  a  great  change  to  the  design- 
ing of  landscape.  His  larger  pictures  are,  after 
all,  fine  academic  set  pieces  in  which  the  trees  are 
viewed  as  mid-distance  masses.  In  his  sketches 
there  is  a  more  original  outlook,  something  hinting 
at  the  simplicity  of  motive  and  variety  of  illumina- 
tion which  characterizes  the  colour  prints  of  Japan, 
without  equalling  them,  however,  in  range  of 
subject  and  illumination. 

Millet,  an  artist  of  unequal  power,  has  shown  a 
greater  originality  in  the  designing  of  landscape, 
with  his  finely  constructed  ground  and  wand-like 
trees  ;  he  avoids  the  climax  effects  of  the  pro- 
fessional landscape  painter,  or,  at  any  rate,  the 
rendering  of  them  with  the  large  orchestral 
(musical  festival)  effects  of  Turner  or  the  per- 
sistent tremolo  of  the  fiddles  (with  a  touch  of  the 
triangle)  which  allures  us  in  Corot,  and  which 
reconciles  us  to  the  designs  of  these  masters, 
even  when  they  are  monotonous  and  academic, 
in  the  sense  that  they  reflect  a  combination  of 
admittedly  beautiful  or  agreeable  things.  Against 
this  tendency  which  I  have  just  described  as  aca- 
demic I  have  nothing  to  say,  since  all  art  in  some 
degree  is  little  else,  whether  the  artist  selects  that 
which  he  thinks  capable  of  beautiful  interpretation 
or  else  combines  elements  of  beauty  from  afar ; 
the  term  academic  becomes  a  reproach  when  the 
choice  is  easy  to  foresee,  when  the  combination 
lures  a  conventional  public  on  the  side  of  the  artist, 
just  as  the  Palladian  palaces  and  arriving  ship,  the 
pleasant  sweep  of  the  bay  and  the  fineness  of  the 
day  flattered  the  contemporaries  of  Claude  in 
favour  of  his  porcelain  skies  and  zinc  seas  :  such 
gentle  'cheateries '  masquerade  themselves  in  strange 
ways — the  string  of  geese  in  a  sketch  by  Daubigny, 
the  little  red  cow  in  a  Corot,  are  agreeable  rustic 
touches  which  add  incalculable  hundreds  to  a  pic- 
ture in  the  eyes  of  the  Philistine  and  the  dealer, 
just  as  English  ladies  like  a  portrait  which  contains 
a  white  satin  dress. 

I  shall  doubtless  be  accused  of  undervaluing 
"These  are  preserved  mainly  in  the  Chatsworth  collection. 


the  study  of  light  which  most  of  these  masters 
have  brought  to  landscape  painting  ;  but  this  new 
study  is  in  itself  hardly  more  vakiable  than  the 
conquest  of  relief  which  was  the  aim  of  the 
Tenebrosi.  If  this  fashion  in  the  painting  of  the 
seventeenth  century  stifled  painting,  and  poisoned 
the  colour  sense  of  a  whole  period,  the  landscape 
painters'  rendering  of  the  glitter  of  sunlight  and 
sunset  has  disintegrated  the  plastic  sense,  nar- 
rowed the  outlook,  and  established  a  convention  in 
the  conduct  of  pigment  which  is  unsuittd  to  the 
expression  of  form,  and  so  affected  the  standard  of 
figure  painting;  at  any  rate  it  has  become  a  common 
fashion  hardly  more  valuable  than  the  light 
animated  manner  affected  by  Ricci  and  Piazzetta, 
who  reacted  against  the  cellar  light  of  theTenebrosi. 

The  most  original  designer  of  landscape  since 
Rembrandt  is  Puvis  de  Chavannes.  With  him 
the  character  of  the  ground,  the  drawing  of  the 
horizon,  have  varied  more  than  with  any  other 
painter.  With  him  we  escape  once  for  all  from 
the  beautiful  tree  convention  established  by  Titian 
and  modified  by  Corot,  in  which  they  are  feathery 
masses  seen  in  the  mid-distance.  With  Puvis  the 
distant  wand-like  trees  of  Millet  have  become  the 
colonnades  of  tree-trunks  which  we  find  in  the 
north  of  France ;  his  trees  are  recognizable  as 
poplar,  willow  or  sycamore,  etc.,  the  leaves  are  no 
longer  the  gold  or  silver  feathery  masses  of  Titian, 
Turner  and  Corot,  but  a  strange  pattern  against 
the  sky,  or  else  sober  masses  of  varying  contour 
supported  by  varying  branch  forms ;  the  tree 
trunks  have  become  grey,  green  or  while,  and 
beyond  extend  horizons  and  skies  that  are  not  the 
great  summer  skies  of  Titian  orthescirocco  clouds 
of  Tiepolo  or  the  Bengal  lights  of  Turner's  fantastic 
sunsets,  or  the  splashes  of  mauve  and  rose  of 
Corot,  but  skies  that  have  their  hour,  like  the 
evening  hush  of  the  turquoise  sky  in  Le  Rcpos, 
the  dry  light  of  morning  in  Lndiis  pro  Patria,  the 
weight  of  noon  in  La  Vision  Antique  or  the  mauve 
of  a  summer  night  over  the  stubble  fields  in  Le 
Sovniicil. 

Puvis  de  Chavannes  has  rendered  the  countless 
moods  belonging  to  the  seasons  over  land  and  sea, 
in  the  dawn,  noon  and  twilight ;  and  do  not  let  us 
forget  that  these  moments  are  not  caught  in  mere 
racy  sketches  and  studies,  they  do  not  owe  sparkle 
and  charm  to  freshness  of  pigment  or  to  some 
chaotic  experimentalism  in  handling.  These  effects 
form  part  in  a  noble  scheme  in  which  man  has  not 
been  banished  out  of  nature  (to  be  replaced  by  the 
temper  of  the  artist)  but  in  which  he  figures  in 
the  eternally  engrossing  drama  of  work  and  repose, 
effort  or  thought,  under  the  spell  of  passion, 
tenderness  and  meditation  ;  in  movements  of  effort 
and  moods  of  compassion  ;  clothed  not  merely 
with  the  perfection  of  the  various  ages  and  sexes 
but  viewed  in  his  proper  significance  as  worker  or 
dreamer,  like  those  god-like  workmen  and  mothers 


I  I 


T^uvis  de  Qhavannes 

of  Le  Trm'ciil  nnd  Lc  Rcfos  or  like  the  dreamers 
and  creatures  of  infinite  tenderness  and  foresight 
painted  as  the  Saiuic  Gciicvilvcrcillani  svrPfiris  or 
Virgil  liskiiiiig  io  ihe  Bees,  or  else  we  have  those 
women  transfigured  by  tenderness  and  charm  of 
the  Dottx  Pays  or  La  JoileUe  (Haviland  collection) 
in  which  we  shall  find  expressed,  with  a  primaeval 
candour  of  vision  and  emotion,  that  mood  of 
worship  which  we  find  steeped  in  languor  and 
ritual  in  the  art  of  Rossetti,  or  steeped  in  a 'tenderer' 
sensuality  with  Giorgione  and  other  poet-painters 
to  whom  beauty  has  been  revealed  as  a  force  upon 
which  rested  the  destinies  of  a  generation.  For, 
like  all  great  masters,  besides  the  moods  in  which 
his  art  is  stimulating  as  a  tonic  and  beyond  the 
possibilities  of  the  common  man,  Puvis  de 
Chavannes  paints  also  those  moods  of  ecstasy  in 
which  we  find  the  love  of  beauty  and  ease  and 
grace  which  have  also  their  power  of  consolation. 
He  has  moods  of  playfulness,  in  which  he  records 
the  strange,  quaint,  sudden  movements  of  children, 
as  in  the  Doux  Pays  and  La  Peclic.  He  has 
moments  of  gaiety  and  fascination,  as  in  the 
Jeiines  Filles  an  bord  de  la  Mcr.  He  expresses 
ecstasy  in  the  figure  of  the  painter  in  I' Inspiration 
Chrctienne  and  in  the  St.  John  of  which  the  new 
Dublin  gallery  possesses  a  fascinating  imfinished 
version,  on  the  whole  less  coherent,  less  '  central ' 
than  the  famous  picture,  but  of  the  greatest  interest 
as  the  only  decoration  by  the  master  outside  the 
galleries  of  France  and  the  Boston  Library. 

The  first  time  I  saw  Puvis  de  Chavannes  was  in 
the  Louvre.  He  was  standing  in  front  of  that 
admirable  antique  sometimes  called  a  Sea  Deity, 
sometimes  Alexander  the  Great ;  in  the  crowding  or 
herding  out  of  the  visitors  leaving  the  gallery  I  saw 
him  again,  one  of  the  last  to  leave,  before  Lc  Deluge, 
that  masterpiece  of  Poussin.  The  works  he  was 
studying  help  to  explain  the  trend  of  his  partialities. 
I  called  upon  him  two  years  later  with  a  friend, 
like  myself  a  youth  of  twenty,  and,  looking  back 
across  the  years,  I  remember  him  as  the  man  of 
his  work,  simple,  grave  and  genial,  touched  and 
charmed  by  our  raw  and  uncultivated  admiration 
for  his  painting.  He  had  just  finished  his  first 
pastel,  a  later  phase  of  his  practice  in  which  he 
has  passed  into  the  collections  of  tardy  purchasers. 
He  confessed  to  being  still  the  owner  of  all  his 
small  pictures,  for  criticism  does  not  allow  a  variety 
of  range  to  a  man,  and  '  the  painter  who  paints 
large  must  not  paint  small.'  From  time  to  time 
his  speech  became  admonitory,  and  he  launched 
forth  into  disapproval  of  current  tendencies,  the 
photographic  drawing  of  many,  '  la  perfection 
bete  qui  n'a  rien  a  faire  avec  le  vrai  dessin,  le  dessin 
expressif!'  and  against  Mes  pochades  d'atelieret  de 
vacance.'  I  remember  the  insistence  with  which 
he  underlined  the  fact  that  the  cartoon  for  the 
Sorbonne  was  but  the  skeleton  of  the  design  with- 
out the  colour-scheme  which  would  transform  it ; 


and  as  a  matter  of  fact  this  vast  allegory  would 
seem  to  have  won  a  huge  popular  suffrage  owing 
to  the  enchanting  contrast  between  the  sky  and 
the  dark  semi-circle  of  trees  closing  in  this  new 
Parnassus  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 

I  would  now  consider  certain  details  of  his 
method  wherein  he  resembles  certain  other 
masters,  or  else  reacts  against  their  tendencies. 
For  years  the  character  of  his  drawing  counted 
as  an  element  of  unpopularity  and  misconception. 
In  a  period  in  which  drawing  had  dwindled  into 
more  or  less  careful  copying — when  artists,  in 
fact,  could  not  draw  without  the  presence  of  a 
mode! — his  preoccupation  with  the  finding  of 
a  kind  of  drawing  which  would  express  the  major 
saliences  and  characteristics  and  yet  form  part  of 
the  design  of  the  whole  picture,  his  study  of 
accented  and  rhythmic  drawing,  was  incompre- 
hensible and  offensive.  I  do  not  know  if  the  accusa- 
tion that  Puvis  de  Chavannes  could  not  draw  led 
to  a  further  accenting  of  his  tendencies  and  so 
reduced  some  of  his  later  figures  almost  to  symbols 
or  types ;  it  is  more  probable  that  some  other 
preoccupation  intervened,  such  as  the  lightness  of 
tone  which  deprives  the  painter  of  the  illusion  of 
relief.  In  the  earlier  designs  at  Amiens  the  human 
form  is  rendered  w'ith  a  great  insistence  upon 
largeness  of  construction  and  relief — that  is,  upon 
the  plastic  quality  of  form.  The  colour-scheme 
of  the  four  earlier  works  is  still  in  a  sense  conven- 
tional :  they  have  the  effect  of  noble  tapestries, 
there  is  a  survival  of  an  influence  caught  from 
the  decorative  works  of  Chasseriau.  This  applies 
also  to  the  aspect  of  La  Peche,  which  is  contempo- 
rary with  Le  Travail,  and  those  splendid  sanguine 
studies  now  for  the  most  part  in  the  Luxembourg. 
The  sense  of  form,  however,  is  more  massive  than 
with  Chasseriau  and  more  naturalistic  ;  this  gives 
way  in  the  seventies  and  eighties  to  a  massive 
simplicity  in  which  no  thought  of  Chasseriau  is 
possible ;  from  the  first  Puvis  de  Chavannes 
possessed  a  monumental  sense  of  landscape 
unsuspected  by  his  forerunner,  who  counts  among 
French  painters  much  as  Andr6  Chenier  counts 
in  French  literature. 

The  climax  of  the  master's  method  was  reached 
in  the  first  series  executed  for  the  Pantheon  and 
in  the  Lndus  Pro  Patria.  Between  these  works  we 
can  place  the  Doux  Pays  and  Panvrc  Pecheur.  These 
masterpieces  can  challenge  comparison  with  the 
work  of  any  master  done  at  any  period  ;  in  them 
the  classical  or  Olympian  mood  of  the  earlier 
designs  has  given  way  to  one  more  human, 
more  genial,  more  racy  and  more  original.  The 
last  ten  years  of  the  master's  life  saw  a  further 
simplification  in  his  method  of  drawing,  and  an 
ever-increasing  lightness  of  tonality.  This  change 
was  at  first  distasteful  to  the  French  public,  which 
in  the  eighties  was  enamoured  of  the  ball 
dresses  and   top    hats   of  Gervex,  then   at  their 


12 


L'liSI'tNANCl:.      I'Ki'M     MM      I'AIMIM.    i;>     l'i\i^    :<i     ^HAi.VNNh.- 


I'l'VIS   DL   CHAVANNES. 
I'l.ATE   I 


i^ 


LA   l-AiMlLLE   UV    I'JKCHEUK.      1-K<IM    TH1-,    I'AINTINU   BY   PUVIS   L'L    tli A\  A.N.Nii 


PUVIS   Dli   CHAVAN'XES. 
I'l.ATE  II 


newest,  and  with  the  photographic  reahsm  preva- 
lent in  the  Salon.  The  amber  Hght  and  astonish- 
ingly musical  ambience  in  Le  Bois  sacre  won  suff- 
rages from  all  Paris,  to  whom,  for  the  moment, 
this  work  appealed  quite  suddenly.  In  the  Salon  it 
produced  the  effect  of  some  Greek  fragment  lost 
in  an  upholstered  drawing-room  with  the  velvet 
poufs  and  pink  lamp-shades  then  in  vogue.  In 
later  life  what  I  have  termed  the  musical  ambience 
usurps  the  place  to  some  extent  of  the  human 
interest  which  had  belonged  to  the  works  executed 
in  the  seventies  and  early  eighties.  In  the  Boston 
decorations  little  else  survives,  though  in  centrality 
of  conception  and  design  the  last  decorations  in 
the  Pantheon,  left  unfinished  at  his  death,  are 
not  inferior  to  the  first';  but  in  these  as  in  the 
Sorbonnne  and  Hotel  de  Ville  decorations  the 
synthesis  in  method  is  perhaps  ever  so  slightly  on 
that  side  which  has  rendered  him  acceptable  to 
the  lovers  of  latter-day  impressionism  and  symbol- 
ism in  painting  and  literature,  and  the  last  work 
of  Puvis  de  Chavannes  has  become  acceptable  to 
poetic  young  gentlemen  and  aesthetic  young  ladies 
as  if  he  had  no  talent  but  only  a  very  personal 
manner.  Perhaps  in  the  last  works  the  sense  of 
form  has  become  too  abstract.  The  colour-sense 
follows  a  line  of  development  towards  a  greater 
aerial  quality,  till  it  becomes  little  else  than  the 
blues  of  the  sky  and  shadows  of  France. 

The  art  of  Puvis,  which  had  been  classical  and 
robust  inider  the  lyrical  impulse  of  Chasseriau, 
more  normal  and  more  emotional  in  his  maturity, 
melts  in  its  last  phase  into  a  lyrical  and  musical 
mood.  The  masculine  interest  in  the  worker  and 
thinker  gives  place  to  the  charm  of  the  muse  and 
the  ministrant ;  the  classical  women  of  the  Donx 
Pays  become  the  aerial  girls  of  the  Boston  decora- 
tion ;  the  racy  human  types,  at  one  time  so  French 
in  character,  give  way  to  the  nymphs  with  aston- 
ished eyes  of  L'Autoiiiite,  the  aesthetic  girls  and 
youths  of  the  Rouen  decorations  and  the  superbly 
conceived  but  abstract  types  of  L'Hiver. 

Where  did  Puvis  learn  the  aerial  tonality  of 
the  major  portion  of  his  works  ?  In  the  four  early 
decorations  at  Amiens,  and  in  La  Pechc,  the 
prevalent  tone  is  that  of  some  noble  and  natural- 
istic fresco  by  some  master  who  had  seen  Lcs 
Boiiviers  by  Benozzo  Gozzoli  in  the  Riccardi 
chapel,  and  the  Death  of  Adam  by  Piero  della 
Francesca  ;  there  is  in  them  a  classical  influence 
also  which  is  difficult  to  describe,  which  is  different 
from  that  which  inspired  Chass6riau,  whose 
mural  decorations  show  the  pervading  influence 
of  certain  Pompeian  frescoes,  such  as  the  Medea 
from  Herculaneum  and  the  superb  Hercules  and 
Telephiis  and  Hercules  and  Onipliale  also  at  Naples, 
one  of  which  had  been  copied  by  Ingres. 

The  grey  and  blue  and  green  general  tonality 
in  Puvis's  work  increases  with  the  simplification 
of  his  method.     The  general  aspect  of  his  designs 


Puvis  de  Qhavannes 

has  been  compared  to  Piero  delta  Francesca,  but 
if  this  influence  reacted  upon  him  years  after  he 
had  visited  Italy,  the  resemblance  is  of  the  slightest 
to  those  who  know  the  radiant  and  steady  silver 
light  in  which  Piero  has  bathed  the  subjects  of  his 
frescoes.  I  incline  to  suggesting  an  almost  inexplic- 
able influence  caught  from  chance  works  of  Corot 
to  account  for  the  evolution  of  this  profoundly 
original  phase  of  painting,  which,  like  other 
original  efforts,  was  partly  instinctive,  then  con- 
scious, and  then  strongly  willed.  Behind  him  lay 
the  fact  that  the  great  fresco  painters — Giotto, 
Angelico,  Piero  della  Francesca  and  Michelangelo 
— had  painted  in  a  paler  key  than  other  designers 
who  had  been  less  successful  in  mural  decoration, 
and  that  these  frescoes  brought  light  and  colour 
to  the  buildings.  Chasseriau  and  Manet  each 
brought  back  the  rumour  of  the  blonde  paintings 
of  Italy,  and  we  have  two  fashions  in  art  to  help  in 
strengthening  this  tendency  :  on  the  one  hand,  the 
growing  love  of  the  fifteenth-century  painters,  and 
on  the  other  impressionism,  which  strove  to  break 
with  the  exigencies  and  traditional  practices  of  oil 
painting.  The  will  of  the  time  was  in  part  turned 
towards  the  practice  of  a  lighter  scheme  of  painting, 
and  the  artifices  of  chiaroscuro  or  the  expressive 
quality  of  relief  became  distasteful.  This  tendency 
was  doubtless  fostered  in  part  by  the  discovery  of 
the  art  of  Japan  ;  in  this  movement  towards  light- 
ness Puvis  de  Chavannes  took  the  lead,  painting 
decorations  which  were  tuned  to  the  grey  of  the 
stone  walls  on  which  they  were  to  be  placed,  and 
which  stood  out  in  the  Salons  among  the  studio 
top-light  effects  of  the  smart  painters  of  the  time 
with  something  of  the  pallor  of  a  map  among 
coloured  oleographs. 

I  have  striven  to  describe  Puvis's  discoveries 
in  landscape,  his  originality  and  variety  in  the 
conception  and  design  of  his  work,  and  his  enor- 
mous range  of  vision.  The  space  at  my  disposal 
does  not  allow  me  to  describe  the  curiously 
fortunate  and  quite  original  balance  of  interest 
which  he  has  established  between  the  environ- 
ment of  land  and  sky  and  the  human  interest  in 
his  paintings,  for  which  there  is  hardly  any 
absolute  precedent  in  the  art  of  the  past  It 
might  be  described  as  figure  painting  with  land- 
scape background,  or  else  as  pure  landscape 
painting  with  or  without  figures.  I  have  striven 
to  explain  his  noble  qualities  as  a  draughtsman  of 
monumental  figures,  and  the  range  of  his  emotions 
which  make  him  acceptable  to  the  more  balanced 
lover  of  realism  and  to  the  student  of  Greek  art 
(they  need  not  necessarily  be  at  variance).  I  have 
striven  to  hint  at  the  musical  and  harmonious 
scale  of  colour  which  supports  or,  more  properly, 
forms  an  integral  part  of  his  designs.  Technically, 
he  strove  for  a  method  which  tends  towards  effects 
that  are  new  to  oil  painting.  In  this  singular  effort, 
which  after  all  had  its  reason  in  the  durability  of 


PuvJs  de  Qhavannes 


the  medium,  we  may  detect  a  limitation  in  the 
master,  or,  more  properly,  a  self-imposed  limit  to 
his  aim.  It  is  probable  that  certain  great  beauties 
we  admire  in  the  racy  conduct  of  pigment  and 
the  love  of  what  is  called  quality,  were  of 
little  interest  to  him,  at  any  rate  they  were 
unnecessary  to  his  purpose  as  a  decorator ;  yet 
certain  easel  works  show  this  preoccupation,  such  as 
UEspemncc  and  U Enfant  Prodigue  whilst  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  his  pictures,  Le  Panvre  Pcchcur,  dis- 
penses with  all  subtleties  of  surface  to  produce  an 
effect  of  remote  beauty  as  of  some  work  by  astrange 
unknown  master  of  some  distant  clime  and  period. 
The  love  of  quality  in  pigment,  or  brush- 
work,  was  not  in  the  scheme  of  this  painter 
of  mural  decorations,  whose  smaller  works  charm 
one  like  some  little  fresco  detached  from  the 
walls  of  some  non-existent  Herculaneum,  buried 
in  the  imagination  of  a  man  who  had  at  once  the 
painter's  vision  and  the  direct  sense  of  emotional 
appeal  of  the  poet. 


The  master's  range  of  subject  was  foreign  to 
two  generations  of  contemporary  painters  who 
were  striving  to  specialize  themselves  ;  the  dignity 
and  singleness  of  his  art  and  aim  exasperated  two 
generations  of  critics  who  missed  the  opportunity 
for  self-important  pronouncements  or  admonition. 
The  vestrymen  and  placemen  who  governed  the  art 
politics  of  his  time  gave  him  walls  to  decorate,  as 
often  as  not,  as  an  afterthought ;  these  decorations 
cost  the  artist  on  an  average  ;£200  each. 

Two  cities  in  Europe  outside  France  possess 
important  pictures  of  his,  Dresden  and  Dublin. 
He  is  still  comparatively  unknown  in  England,  but 
the  present  artistic  temper  of  this  country  is  still, 
for  the  moment,  under  the  Salon  and  Paris  atelier 
ideals  against  which  Puvis  de  Chavannes  had  to 
contend  some  twenty  years  ago.'' 

3  We  owe  two  of  the  photographs  illustrating  this  article  to 
the  courtesy  of  M.  Darand-Ruel. 


FLORENCE  AND  HER  BUILDERS 
^  BY  G.  BALDWIN  BROWN  cK> 


OR  romantic  associations  and 
for  artistic  interest  Rome  stands 
easily  first  among  the  cities  of 
Italy.  A  claim  for  Ravenna 
as  next  in  rank  might  be 
reasonably  urged  on  the  strength 
of  her  unique   treasure   in  the 

early  Christian  mosaics  on  the 

beautiful  blue  grounds  of  primitive  tradition,  and 
of  her  churches  and  tombs  wherein  we  are  trans- 
ported back,  without  any  shock  of  surprise,  some 
fourteen  hundred  years.  In  the  judgment  of 
most  people,  however,  the  deutereia  will  be  a  matter 
of  contest  between  Florence  and  Venice,  and  the 
popularity  of  the  two  cities  is  attested  by  the  out- 
put of  books  in  the  titles  of  which  their  names 
appear.  The  work  which  gives  the  occasion  for 
this  article  •  is  not  merely  one  more  of  the  many 
readable  volumes  on  the  famous  Italian  cities  and 
their  artistic  attractions,  it  is  something  better  and 
more  distinctive.  The  author  of  it  does  deal  to 
some  extent  with  the  history  and  the  life  of  the 
city  at  different  periods,  but  the  main  subject  of 
the  volume,  as  explained  in  the  preface,  is  the 
Florentine  building  art,  and  the  more  general 
passages  are  designed  to  elucidate  the  relation  of 
the  city  life  to  the  architecture  which  has  been  '  its 
chief  vehicle  of  contemporary  and  permanent 
expression.' 

In  so  far  as  the  book  deals  with  the  architecture 
of  the  city  it  merits  a  cordial  welcome,  for  the 
author  has  not  been  content  to  dilate  upon  these 

•  'The  Builders  of  Florence,"  by  J.  Wood  Brown,  M.A.  With 
seventy-four  illustrations  by  Herbert  Railton.  London  :  Methuen 
and  Co.,  1907.    i8s.  net. 

18 


buildings  from  the  historical  or  romantic  stand- 
point, but  shows  himself  a  student  of  the  technique 
of  the  constructive  art,  and  analyses  the  fabrics 
from  this  point  of  view  in  a  thoroughly  practical 
fashion.  Very  many  of  his  readers  who  know 
their  Florence  well  will  learn  interesting  facts  that 
are  quite  new  to  them  about  buildings  they  have 
visited  scores  of  times,  and  about  which  they  have 
the  guide  book  information  at  their  fingers'  ends. 
Mr.  Wood  Brown  has  made  good  use  of  the 
monographs  on  Florentine  buildings  which  have 
appeared  in  recent  years,  such  as  Mospignotti's 
'  Duomo  di  San  Giovanni,'  with  its  constructive 
analysis  of  the  Baptistry,  and  Pietro  Franceschini's 
'  L'Oratorio  di  San  Michele  in  Orto  in  Firenze,' 
and  has  made  contributions  of  his  own,  especially 
to  the  subject  of  the  older  domestic  architecture. 
'The  original  building  unit  in  Florence,  as 
elsewhere  in  Italy  during  the  early  Middle  Age, 
was  the  tower  ;  that  is  the  house  built  on  the  nar- 
row foundation  sufficient  for  a  single  small  room, 
and  added  to,  not  horizontally  but  vertically  .  .  . 
the  towers  of  Florence  were  not  distinctively 
castles,  as  it  has  been  the  custom  to  represent  them, 
but  common  houses,  built  on  narrow  sites  because 
the  whole  city  must  be  limited  by  a  wall  capable 
of  defence  at  every  point ;  which  houses  were  then 
carried  high  to  meet  the  wants  of  a  growing 
population.'  These  sentences  introduce  a  discus- 
sion of  the  stone  towers,  their  union  in  groups,  and 
ultimate  crystallization  into  a  form  that  gives  the 
key  to  the  general  scheme  of  the  later  palazzo  of 
the  Renaissance.  The  interest  of  the  demonstra- 
tion lies  partly  in  the  fact  that  the  Florentine  tower- 
houses  were  treated  in  a  fashion  similar  to  that 


Florence  and  her  Builders 


prevailing  in  a  famous  stone-built  fortified  mediae- 
val city  in  our  own  country,  the  city  of  Edinburgh. 
The  parallel  is  worth  a  moment's  attention.  In  both 
cases  additional  space  was  gained  for  the  denizens 
of  the  stone  structures  by  throwing  out  wooden 
galleries  supported  on  beams  and  struts,  so  that  at 


natural  for  adherents  of  the  same  family  to  live  side 
by  side,  so  the  insula,  though  divided  up  into  sep- 
arate dwellings,  might  represent  the  seat  of  a  clan, 
and  this  solidarity  might  be  emphasized  by  a  com- 
mon well,  and  perhaps  a  common  chapel,  in  the 
courtyard.    At  first  the  heights  of  the  towers  varied 


J  Wooj>-  Brov'N 


FIG.    I 


'^dcoJ  Florentine  Towar-^roup^m^wus  fo  I250 


first  sight  the  house  fronts  seemed  to  be  of  timber, 
though  as  a  fact  there  was  only  a  facing  of  wood 
clinging  to  the  stone  structure  behind.  It  is 
curious  to  note  that  of  two  travellers  who  give 
evidence  of  the  aspect  of  Edinburgh  in  thesixteenth 
century  one  reports  that  all  the  houses  were  of 
wood,  the  other,  who  examined  a  little  more  closely, 
that  they  were  all  of  stone.  Fig.  i  -  reproduces 
Mr.  Wood  Brown's  diagram  of  a  group  of  early 
Florentine  towers  of  the  period  before  1250,  with 
their  wooden  fronts.  Each  tower  he  believes  to 
have  been  of  very  narrow  dimensions  on  the  ground 
plan,  but  they  were  placed  closely  together,  and 
arranged  so  as  to  form  a  square  block  or  insula 
surrounding    a    central  courtyard.     It  would  be 

*  Reproduced    from    Mr.  Wood  Brown's    drawing  by  kind 
permission  of  the  publishers,  Messrs.  Methuen  and  Co. 


greatly,  and  any  proprietor  that  needed  more  space 
could  always  add  another  story  to  his  edifice,  but  in 
the  year  1 250  a  law  was  passed  that  all  private  build- 
ings of  more  than  fifty  braccia  in  height  should  be 
cut  down  to  this  uniform  level.  This  the  author 
suggests  would  give  a  certain  unity  to  the  block, 
and  formed  the  model  of  the  later  palazzo,  which 
in  the  early  example  of  the  Bargello,  and  the  sub- 
sequent ones  of  the  Renaissance  palaces,  is  still 
the  same  block  with  central  courtyard,  but  has 
changed  the  numerous  separate  residences  of 
which  it  was  originally  composed  for  continuous 
suites  of  apartments  forming  a  single  domicile. 
Our  concern  however  for  the  moment  is  with 
the  early  form  of  the  tower.  This  had  a  lowest 
story  vaulted  in  stone  and  devoted  to  purposes 
of  business  by  the  merchant  citizen  who  owned 


19 


Florence  and  her  Builders 

the  dwelling  and  used  the  upper  stories  for  his 
actual  domicile.  Here  the  arrangement  is  exactly 
what  we  find  at  a  later  date  in  the  older  stone 
houses  of  Edinburgh.  The  basements  of  some  at 
any  rate  of  these  houses  were  vaulted,  and  were 
entered  from  the  level  of  the  street  quite  inde- 
pendently of  the  rest  of  the  house,  access  to  which 
began  on  the  first  floor,  reached  by  a  picturesque 
outside  stair,  many  specimens  of  which  have 
happily  survived.  Mr.  Wood  Brown  does  not 
tell  us  how  the  upper  stories  were  reached  in  his 
early  Florentine  towers.  On  these  upper  stories 
the  wooden  galleries  were  thrown  out,  on  a 
system  which  the  diagram  makes  clear.  Numerous 
examples  occur  of  the  stone  brackets  that  once 
helped  to  support  the  galleries  and  now  pro- 
ject aimlessly  from  the  stone  fafades,  and  Mr. 
Railton's  drawings,  with  which  the  volume  is 
illustrated,  give  many  specimens.  Specimens  of 
actual  wooden  galleries  on  facades  have  not,  so  far 
as  we  know,  survived  in  the  Florence  of  to-day,  but 
in  Edinburgh  they  are  still  in  evidence,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  among  the  most  curious  features 
of  antique  domestic  architecture  that  this  country 
has  to  show.  Fig.  2,  copied  by  permission  from 
a  portion  of  a  drawing  of  Advocates'  Close  in  Mr. 
Bruce  Home's  '  Old  Houses  in  Edinburgh,'  gives 
specimens  of  these  wooden  fronts  supported  on 
beams  projecting  from  the  stone  walls.  The 
origin  of  them  is  quite  clear,  for  the  timber 
outwork  or  '  brattishing '  was  a  common  feature 
of  mediaeval  military  architecture,  and  it  was 
from  the  castles  that  the  city  houses  adopted 
the  fashion.  For  access  to  these  galleries  it 
was  necessary  to  use  the  windows  of  the  stone 
front  as  doors,  or  to  enlarge  some  of  these  for 
that  purpose,  and  fig.  3,  reproduced  by  permission 
from  the  fourth  volume  of  Messrs.  McGibbon  and 
Ross's  '  Castellated  and  Domestic  Architecture  of 
Scotland,'  shows  a  portion  of  the  outer  face  of 
the  so-called  '  Palace  of  Mary  of  Guise,'  now 
demolished,  in  Milne's  Court,  Edinburgh,  where 
we  see  the  marks  of  a  wooden  gallery  that  had 
been  taken  down,  and  a  doorway,  which  may 
previously  have  been  a  window,  that  gave  access 
to  it. 

The  later  development  of  the  stone  house  under 
the  influence  of  the  wooden  galleries  is  interesting, 
and  there  is  a  parallelism  here  again  between  the 
Italian  and  the  northern  city.  In  his  fourth  chap- 
ter, the  author  derives  the  characteristic  Florentine 
loggia,  as  we  find  it  for  example  in  the  Mercato 
Nuovo,  from  the  vaulted  ground  story  of  the  early 
domicile.  '  In  a  dado  of  many  towers,'  he  suggests, 
'inhabited  by  different  branches  of  some  one  power- 
ful, perhaps  aristocratic  family,  while,  as  to-day, 
many  of  the  basements,  cut  off  by  their  solid  vaults 
from  the  upper  storey,  might  be  let  as  shops  to 
minor  artisans  or  poorer  traders,  one  of  greater 
importance,  generally  at  a  corner  and  so  facing  on 


two  streets,  was  set  apart  almost  religiously  as  the 
family  loggia.  Here  the  head  of  the  house  saw 
clients  and  contadini  on  business  in  the  morning  ; 
and  here  his  wife  sat  to  receive  company  in  the 
afternoon.  By  degrees,  where  there  was  space 
available,  pillars  were  set  in  front  of  the  corner, 
and  a  wide  roof  stretched  over  them  which  found 
a  bracketed  bearing  on  the  tower  wall  above  or 
beside  the  great  door  arches  of  the  basement.  Thus 
the  loggia  grew  by  encroaching    on    the    street, 


FIG.   2.      ADVOCATES 
NOW   DEMOLISHED 


CLOSE,  EDINBURGH. 


where  the  lines  of  its  new  roof  and  columns  made 
a  charming  effect,  as  any  one  may  see  at  the  Canto 
degli  Alberti  in  Via  dei  Benci.'  From  this  begin- 
ning the  loggia  developed  as  an  independent 
structure  deriving  its  columns  from  the  supports 
of  this  projecting  portico,  its  vault  from  that  of 


20 


Florence  and  her  Builders 


FIG.  3.      TRACES   OF   TIMBER   PROJECTION   ON 
FACE     OF    OLD     EDINBURGH     STONE     HOUSE 

the  original  basement  of  the  tower.  The  author 
suggests  also  another  Hne  of  development  from 
this  same  starting  point  of  the  vaulted  basement  of 
the  tower,  but  here  we  doubt  very  much  whether 
his  foundation  will  carry  the  desired  superstructure. 
He  makes  a  significant  remark  that  parish  churches 
in  Florence  may  in  many  cases  have  grown  out  of 
the  chapels  in  the  residential  instilae,  but  the  deriva- 
tion of  the  church  campanile  from  the  residential 
tower  is  a  different  matter.  The  history  of  the 
ecclesiastical  tower  is  still  obscure,  but  we  should 
need  to  be  convinced  of  the  early  origin  and  wide 
diffusion  of  the  narrow  residential  tower  before 
we  could  accept  it  as  a  source  for  the  ecclesiastical 
towers  which  appear  in  early  mediaeval  days  in  so 
many  lands  of  the  West  from  Erin  to  Sicily.  In 
the  form  of  the  turrets  containing  the  stairs  to  the 
upper  galleries  of  a  church,  as  at  San  Vitale, 
Ravenna,  and  Aachen,  or  as  an  entrance  for 
building  as  at  the  latter  place,  the  tower  is  early, 
and  is  essentially  from  the  first  a  part  of  the  church. 
Mr.  Wood  Brown's  single  domestic  tower  that 
moves  out  of  its  rank  beside  the  others  and  comes 
to  stand  by  the  church  as  its  '  Clergy  House  and 
Belfry  in  one,'  we  venture  to  question,  for  it  was 
not  only  at  Florence  or  in  Italy  that  this  develop- 
ment of  ecclesiastical  architecture  was  being  worked 
out.  Furthermore,  the  theory  that  the  vault  of 
the  tower  basement  spread  to  the  church  and 
accounts   ultimately  for  the  vaulting  of  its  aisles 


and  nave  is  too  big  for  its  basis.  Vaulting  is 
too  widely  diffused,  and  as  regards  the  side  aisles  too 
clearly  motived  by  the  need  for  supporting  the 
galleries  which  came  into  use  in  the  early  mediae- 
val period,  for  this  suggestion  to  have  plausibility. 

Mr.  Wood  Brown  is  on  much  firmer  ground 
when  he  confines  himself  to  the  actual  develop- 
ment of  the  forms  of  the  domicile.  The  origin  of 
the  sporti,  or  projecting  upper  stories  of  Florentine 
houses  supported  below  on  stone  corbels,  may 
undoubtedly  be  found  in  the  earlier  wooden 
galleries,  which  the  sporli  reproduced  in  perma- 
nent materials.  This  process  led  to  the  'archi- 
tecture of  the  bracket,'  as  he  calls  it,  '  which  was 
now  carried  out  in  stone  and  brick  on  the  lines  of 
the  earlier  wooden  construction,'  and  resulted  in 
various  picturesque  forms  of  projections  or  cor- 
belled supports,  in  many  cases  closely  copying  the 
earlier  wooden  brackets  and  struts.  These  details 
are  fully  illustrated  in  the  numerous  and  attractive 
drawings  with  which  the  volume  is  supplied,  and 
there  is  no  space  here  to  call  attention  to  special 
points  in  the  development.  A  word  must  be  said 
however  of  the  curiously  exact  Edinburgh  parallels. 
It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  to  find  two  cities  so  far 
apart  in  degrees  of  latitude  resembling  each  other 
so  closely  in  their  building  features.  Both  were 
however  stone-building  cities  where  vaulting  was 
understood  (in  this  Scotland  was  far  ahead  of 
England),  both  were  cities  of  merchants  who 
found  a  commercial  use  for  the  separate  basement 
story,  and  both  were  cooped  up  within  a  narrow 
circuit  of  walls  and  accordingly  ran  their  houses 
up  to  inordinate  heights,  while  both  finally  adopt- 
ed the  military  device  of  the  wooden  '  brattishing,' 
in  the  form  of  the  projecting  gallery  entered  from 
the  original  windows  of  the  stone  structure.  Mr. 
Wood  Brown  believes  that  a  first-story  gallery 
might  be  supported  below  by  upright  wooden 
posts  from  the  ground.  This  was  commonly,  too, 
the  case  in  Edinburgh.  In  the  case  of  both  cities, 
when  the  gallery  and  its  supports  were  petrified, 
as  has  just  been  noted,  permanent  projections 
were  corbelled  out  on  stone  brackets,  but  the 
wooden  prop  also  became  the  stone  column,  and 
accordingly  the  open  loggie,  which  are  character- 
istic features  of  the  ground  floors  of  the  inner 
courtyards  of  the  Renaissance  palaces,  may  be  re- 
garded as  lineal  descendants  of  the  wooden  features 
shown  in  a  corresponding  position  in  Fig.  i.  In 
Edinburgh  one  example  still  survives  of  stone 
columns  supporting  a  stone  front  that  has  replaced 
one  of  timber.  It  is  in  the  house  called  '  Glad- 
stone's Land  '  in  the  Lawnmarket.  Remains  of 
another  were  to  be  seen  till  recently,  when  the 
City  Architect's  Department  needlessly  destroyed 
it.     Qiiis  ciistodid  ipsos  ciistodcs  ? 

This  part  of  the  volume  before  us  has  been 
dwelt  on  at  length  because  to  most  people  it  will 
have  a  fresher  interest  than  notices  of  Florentine 


21 


Florence  and  her  Builders 


history  and  social  life,  on  which  there  has  been  a 
making  of  many  books.  The  analysis  of  early 
domestic  architecture  of  the  city  is  indeed  so 
attractive  that  the  part  of  Chapter  IV  on  civil  archi- 
tecture, together  with  portions  of  the  later  ones 
on  the  Bargello  and  the  Palazzo  della  Signoria, 
would  make  a  very  useful  reprint  in  the  form  of  a 
hrochurc,  which  visitors  to  Florence  interested  in 
the  subject  might  carry  with  them  on  their  pere- 
grinations. The  volume  itself  is  very  heavy  and 
is  largely  made  up  of  historical  disquisitions  that 
are  best  perused  at  home.  What  is  said  here  applies 
also  to  the  chapters  where  some  of  the  public 
buildings,  such  as  Or  San  Michele  and  the  Bap- 
tistry, are  analysed  from  the  structural  standpoint. 
These  parts  of  the  book  are  the  most  definite  and 
satisfactory  in  statement. 

The  plan  of  the  work  involves  the  association  of 
historical  and  social  discussions  with  the  different 
buildings  passed  in  review,  and  in  this  way  occa- 
sions are  found  for  notices  of  the  early  development 
of  the  city,  of  the  history  of  Florentine  commerce 
with  the  rise  and  fall  of  industries,  of  the  forms  of 
government  under  the  Republic,  of  the  warfare  of 
Imperial  and  Papal  parties,  and  the  like.  The 
connexions  are  not  always  very  obvious,  as  when 
the  murder  of  Buondelmonte  gives  rise  to  a  discus- 
sion of  the  struggle  for  dominion  between  the 
Empire  and  the  Church,  and  the  author  acknow- 
ledges in  his  preface  that  the  various  topics  are  held 
together  by  no  very  obvious  thread.  There  are 
interesting  passages  however  about  persons  as  well 
as  institutions,  such  as  the  notice  of  Niccolo 
Acciaiuoli,  linked  on  to  a  visit  to  the  Certosa  of  the 
Val  d'Ema.  We  should  have  been  given  the  ideal 
presentment  of  the  hero,  in  his  light  surcoat  over 
his  mail,  that  Andrea  dal  Castagno  painted  in  the 
villa  at  Legnaja,  and  under  which  is  the  high- 
sounding  inscription,  '  Magnus  Thetrarcha  de 
Acciarolis  Neapolitani  Regni  Dispensator  '  !  The 
history  of  Florence,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  not  in- 
spiring. Commercial  interests  are  too  much  in 
evidence,  and  the  faction   struggles  grow  weari- 


some through  iteration.  We  miss  the  spaci- 
ousness of  Venetian  history,  the  imposing  stability 
of  the  maritime  state,  her  world-wide  in- 
terests. To  know  Venice  aright  one  must  not 
only  haunt  the  lagunes,  but  must  wander  in 
the  Eastern  Mediterranean,  where  on  a  hundred 
shores  the  moles  and  ramparts  of  massive  stone- 
w-ork,  the  winged  lion  in  effigy,  are  still  eloquent 
of  her  power  and  her  pride  of  empire.  Well  might 
her  citizens  in  the  thirteenth  century  boast  that, 
though  they  lived  among  the  sea  waves  with  hardly 
land  enough  about  them  for  the  foundations  of 
their  houses,  yet  '  for  fruitful  gardens  and  splendid 
castles  they  had  Dalmatia,  Albania,  Roumania, 
Greece,  Trebizond,  Syria,  Armenia,  Egypt,  Cyprus, 
Candia,  Apulia,  Sicily,  with  other  lands,  islands 
and  kingdoms,  where  they  found  profit,  pleasure 
and  security '  ! 

But  if  in  the  political  and  social  sense  the  story 
of  Florence  is  cramped  and  even  sordid,  her 
empire  was  an  intellectual  empire,  and  as  we 
wander  through  the  world  of  thought  her  trophies 
and  insignia  are  ever  in  view.  The  vernacular 
literature  of  Europe  owes  to  Dante  an  immeasur- 
able debt,  and  in  the  domain  of  culture  generally 
we  look  to  the  Florence  of  the  early  Renaissance 
as  the  evangelist  of  a  spiritual  ideal  that  has  pro- 
foundly influenced  mankind.  Hers  was  the  con- 
ception of  a  perfectible  human  nature,  on  a  basis 
of  richly  developed  powers  of  body  and  mind  con- 
trolled by  reason  and  self-knowledge.  However 
one-sided  may  seem  to  some  people  this  con- 
ception of  human  nature,  as  the  revival  of  a  great 
Hellenic  idea  that  had  inspired  the  thought  of 
Plato  it  will  be  fruitful  as  long  as  civilization 
endures.  Humanism  made  the  pursuit  of  know- 
ledge an  inspiring  quest,  its  use  a  joyful  energy  of 
the  being  that  glorified  life.  It  was  not  her 
merchants  and  her  statesmen  that  made  Flor- 
ence great,  but  her  thinkers  and  her  artists, 
and  these  have  won  for  her  a  dominion  as  wide 
as  that  of  Venice,  and  one  that  will  never  pass 
away. 


THE  OLD  SILVER  SACRAMENTAL    VESSELS  OF  SOME 

ENGLISH  CHURCHES  IN  HOLLAND 

,A^  BY  E.  ALFRED  JONES  d^ 


places   of 
tongue,  followed 
unrest  in  England 


OLLAXD,   as   the    chief    sea- 
canning  power   in    Europe  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  attract- 
ed large  numbers   of  seafarers 
and  merchantmen  from  Britain, 
who  quickly  formed  small  com- 
munities at  the  important  Dutch 
ports.      The    establishment    of 
worship,  with   services    in    their   own 
as  a  matter  of  course.     Religious 
had  its  share  in  increasing  the 


English  and  Scotch  congregations  in  Holland. 
The  list  of  these  churches  is  a  long  one  ;'  several 
have  disappeared,  but  a  goodly  number  still  remain. 
Two  of  these  were  recently  visited  by  the  writer, 
and  the  plate  of  a  defunct  church  examined  ;  and 
it  is  the  vessels  of  these  three  which  will  be  de- 
scribed in  these  pages.  This  description  of  these 
old  vessels  will,  it  is  hoped,  prove  not  unacceptable 
on  historical  grounds. 

1  Vidt  Stevens's  '  History  of  the  Scottish  and  other  British 
Churches  in  the  Netherlands,'  1833. 


22 


I.      SILVEK    BKAKKRS   AND    liRKAUDlSH,    IX    TH1-;    KXl.USH    KICFORMED    CHIKCH,    AMSTERDAM 


PATEN,    BAPTISMAL   BUWL    ALMS-liliXES,   ASlJ    liEAKER   IX   THE   EXtiLISH    REFORMED    CHLKCH,    AMSTERDAM 


3.      IXKSTANI5S,    TRAYS   AND   SE\E   IX    TFIE    ES'GMSII    RKEORMED   CHERCII,    AMSTERDAM 


"^P 


(IJ.D       SILVER       SACRAMENTAI,      VESSELS     IN 
KXlil.lSIl  I.IH  RCHES   I       IIDLLAND.      PLATE  1 


^ 


4-      BRASS    PLLPIT    Di;sK    IN    THE    ENGLISH    KEEOKMED    CHl'KCH,    AMSTEKIJAM 


5.      CHALICE.    FLAGON   AND    PATEN    IN   THE    ENGLISH    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.    A.MSTERDAM 


OLD        SILVER       SACRAMENTAL      VESSELS      IN 
ENGLISH    CHURCHES  IN   HOLLAND.      PLATE  II 


Old  Silver  Sacramental  Vessels 


The  English  Reformed  Church,  Amsterdam." 
This  church  celebrated  its  tercentenary  last  year, 
the  first  service  having  been  held  on  the  3rd 
February,  1607.  Theoriginal  record  of  this  opening 
service  is  still  preserved  there,  and  it  is  worthy  of 
inclusion  in  this  article,  if  only  for  its  quaint 
language  :  'In  the  Jaere  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
1607,  the  third  day  of  the  moneth  commonlij  callet 
fabruarij  about  four  of  the  clocke  in  the  afternone 
is  the  Church  in  the  Round  Bagijnhof  opened  and 
in  praesens  of  Mijn  Heer  de  Schoutand  Dr.  Petrus 
Plantius  minnister  of  the  reformed  Duch  Church 
in  Amstelredamme  is  the  praechingstoel  brought 
in  that  same  Church  and  set  up  for  the  Englich 
people  dwelling  in  Amstelredamme  in  Holland. 
The  next  day  following  being  the  Lords  daij  about 
nijn  of  the  clocke  in  the  foernone  after  praij  and 
thancksgeiving  unto  Godt  hath  Dr.  Johannis 
Pagetius  minnister  of  the  Englich  Church  praecht 
the  first  sermon  in  that  forsaijde  Church  and  the 
text  was  Create  in  me  a  cleane  hart  o  God — psalm 
51,  vers  10.'*  The  earliest  cups  were  of  pewter, 
which  were  not  superseded  by  silver  until  171 2,  when 
Izaak  Sinkeson,  an  elder  of  this  church  between 
1710  and  1720,  gave  the  four  plain  silver  beakers 
(fig.  i).  They  are  engraved  with  a  double  mono- 
gram, C.  T.,  and  the  height  is  8§  in.  They  bear  the 
Amsterdam  mark,  with  the  date-letter  B,  for  1712, 
and  the  unknown  maker's  mark,  BS,  in  an  oval 
cartouche.  On  29th  December,  1771,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  provide  silver  vessels  in  place  of  the  other 
pewter  ones  then  in  use,  and  the  following  minute 
was  passed  : '  It  is  to  be  observed  that  on  Feb.  27th, 
1771, at  a  friendly  meeting  of  the  Ministers  and  of 
Elders  and  of  Deacons  in  and  out  of  office  of  this 
Church,  it  was  proposed  that,  considering  the  Dishes 
and  Basons  for  the  service  of  the  Communion  Table 
in  our  Church  are  of  Pewter,  a  subscription  should 
be  made  for  furnishing  our  Communion  Table 
with  one  large  Dish,  two  lesser  Dishes  and  two 
poor  Boxes,  all  of  pure  silver.'  The  silver  vessels 
here  referred  to  are  still  in  use,  but  the  pewter 
ones  have  disappeared  : — 

I.  A  large  plain  bread  dish  (fig.  i),  with  a  shaped 
reeded  border,  applied  with  acanthus  leaves  at 
intervals.  It  is  engraved  inside  with  the  mono- 
gram E.  C.  A.,  representing  '  English  Congrega- 
tion, Amsterdam,'  and  the  date,  1771.  The  follow- 
ing inscription  is  engraved  on  the  back  :  '  For  the 
use  of  the  Communion  table  of  the  English 
established  Church  in  Amsterdam,  for  ever,  as 
specified  in  the  Registers  of  the  said  Church, 
December  the  29th,  a.d.  1771.'  Diameter,  i8iin. 
Marks  :  (i)  The  mark  of  Amsterdam  ;  (2)  a  lion 
rampant ;  (3)  the  date-letter  M  in  a  circle ;  (4)  the 
unknown  maker's  mark,  I  S  L. 

■^  Previously  used  by  the  order  of  nuns  called  the  Begijnen, 
named  after  St.  Begga. 

"  For  an  account  of  this  church  consult  a  pamphlet  (1908)  by 
the  present  minister,  Rev.  \Vm,  Thomson,  M.A.,  B.D. 


2.  Two  patens  (fig.  2),  reproductions  in  a  smaller 
size  of  the  above  dish.  They  are  engraved  with 
the  same  monogram,  date  and  inscription.  Dia- 
meter, i2|  in. 

3.  A  deep  baptismal  bowl  (fig.  2),  with 
the  same  border  as  the  foregoing  vessels,  and 
engraved  with  the  same  monogram  and  date. 
Inscription  :  '  For  the  use  of  the  H.  S.  of  the 
Baptism  of  the  English  established  Church  in 
Amsterdam  for  ever  as  specified  in  the  Registers 
of  said  Church,  December  the  29th,  A.D.  1771.' 
Diameter,  i2|^  in.  ;  depth,  3iin. 

4.  The  two  alms-boxes  (fig.  2),  which  are 
deposited  on  the  holy  table  at  the  Communion 
service,  are  of  ebony,  mounted  in  silver.  They 
are  rectangular  in  form,  with  two  plain  silver 
handles,  foliated  at  the  ends  and  attached  to  spiral 
rosettes  on  the  boxes.  The  mounts  on  the  top 
edges  correspond  to  those  on  the  dishes  and 
patens,  while  the  others  are  plain.  An  oval  medal- 
lion in  a  reeded  and  foliated  frame,  and  with  a 
knot  at  the  top,  is  suspended  from  the  rim  on  the 
front  and  back,  both  being  engraved  with  the 
same  monogram,  E.  C.  A.,  as  the  other  vessels.  It 
has  the  same  maker's  mark.  Length,  exclusive  of 
the  handles,  8  in. ;  width,  6^  in. ;  height,  7^  in. 

Though  not  sacramental  vessels,  the  pair  of  old 
Dutch  pewter  inkstands  in  the  vestry  of  this 
church  are  not  devoid  of  interest  (fig.  3).  They 
have  plain  oblong  trays,  on  four  short  scrolled  feet 
fitted  with  one  vase-shape  receptacle  for  ink  and 
one  for  sand.  Size,  loj  in.  long,  6|  in.  wide.  They 
have  no  marks,  and  they  can  hardly  be  much 
later  in  date  than  1700.  The  same  form  of  inkstand 
often  appears  in  Dutch  pictures  of  the  last  half  of 
the  seventeenth  and  early  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
turies. 

The  seal  of  the  church  is  of  ivory  with  a  silver 
head,  engraved  with  a  figure  of  the  Good  Shepherd 
and  this  inscription:  '  ECCL-ANGL'AMSTERD' 

(fig-  3)- 
One  other  object  in  this  church  deserves  more 

than  a  passing  notice,  namely,  the  brass  pulpit- 
desk,  which  consists  of  an  oblong  laurel  frame, 
with  a  lion  rampant  on  flat  open  scroll  foliage  in 
the  centre,  and  with  the  monogram  of  King 
William  and  ^Lal■y  and  the  date,  1689,  in  a  wreath 
of  palms,  surmounted  by  a  royal  crown  :  it  is 
supported  on  a  lion's  claw,  also  of  brass  (fig.  4). 
It  was  given  with  a  pair  of  candlesticks,  which 
have  since  disappeared,  by  William  and  Mary, 
perhaps  in  commemoration  of  their  accession  to 
the  English  throne.*    They  are  known  to  have 

*A  Dutch  silver  spoon,  with  figures  of  William  and  Mary  on 
the  end,  in  the  Rijks  Museum,  Amsterdam,  commemoratts  the 
same  event.  The  following  is  a  literal  translation  of  the  Dutch 
inscription  thereon  : — 

'  Thus  shines  the  bravery  and  virtue  of  William  and  .Mary, 
The  bliss  of  the  Britons,  the  joy  of  Holland. 

Rejoice  the  Church  of  God  in  her  liberation  by  this  couple. 

Crowned  in  the  great  year  of  wonders,  this  April  21st,  16S9.' 

27 


Old  Stiver  Sacramental  Vessels 


worshipped  in  this  building  on  more  than  one 
occasion. 

Mention  must  not  be  omitted  of  the  numerous 
old  foot-warmers,  with  earthenware  bowls  for 
burning  charcoal,  and  wood  stools,  that  have 
survived  in  this  church,  though  no  longer  used. 
They  are  similar  to  that  in  Gabriel  Metsu's  picture, 
The  Singing  Lesson,  in  the  royal  collection  of  Eng- 
land. 

The  English  Episcopal  Church,  Amster- 
dam. This  church  retained  its  silver  communion 
vessels  and  the  original  register,  the  latter  dating 
from  1698,  in  spite  of  the  loss  of  its  building,  its 
funds  and  the  dispersal  of  the  congregation  during 
the  French  invasion  of  1806.  These  vessels '  are 
three  in  number  (fig.  5)  and  comprise  a  plain 
chalice  with  stem,  of  conventional  form,  with 
paten-cover,  engraved  with  the  sacred  monogram 
and  inscribed,'In  Usum  Ecclia  AnglicanaeAmstelo- 
dami  D.D.  Honoratissimus  Jacobus  Brydges 
Baronis  Chandois  de  Sudelis  Filius  Natu  Maximus 
A.D.  1713.'  The  paten-cover  has  moulded  edges 
and  is  engraved  with  the  same  inscription.  The 
foot  is  engraved  with  the  sacred  monogram. 
Height  of  cup,  8|  in  ;  diameter  of  the  mouth,  5  in  ; 
foot,  4I  in.  The  paten-cover  is  6|  in  diameter 
and  I  in.  high.  London  date-letter  for  1713-14. 
Maker's  mark,  Be,  with  two  stars  above,  and  a  fleur- 
de-lys  below,  in  a  shaped  shield — probably  for 
Thos.  Bevault. 

The  tall,  plain,  cylindrical  flagon  with  domed 
cover  is  engraved  with  the  same  inscription  and 
sacred  monogram,  and  bears  the  same  London 
marks  as  the  chalice.  Total  height,  iif  in. ;  height 
of  the  body,  10^  in.  ;  diameter  of  the  mouth,  4  in., 
and  of  the  base,  6§  in. 

The  large  plain  paten,  circa  1748,  has  a  narrow 
moulded  edge,  and  stands  on  a  short  truncated 
foot.  It  is  engraved  with  the  sacred  monogram 
in  the  centre,  and  with  the  following  inscription 
in  a  scroll  on  the  back  :  '  In  Usum  Ecclesiae 
Anglicanae  Amstelodami  D.D.  Honorabilis 
Eduardus  Compton  Armiger  A.D.  1749.'  Diameter, 
io|  in.  ;  height,  i^in.  Marks:  (i)  Mark  of  Am- 
sterdam ;  (2)  unknown  maker's  mark,  RB,  in  an 
elongated  oval  cartouche ;  (3)  lion  rampant 
crowned  ;  (4)  the  date-letter,  P,  in  an  oval. 

English  Church  at  The  Hague.  The  eleven 
silver  vessels'  of  this  now  defunct  church  are 
carefully  preserved  at  the  British  Legation,  The 
Hague.  Earliest  in  date  are  two  plain  beakers  on 
wide  moulded  bases  (fig.  6).    They  are  inscribed 

^The  donor  of  the  chalice  with  its  paten-cover  and  the  flagon 
was  James  Brydges,  eighth  Lord  Chandos  of  Sudeley,  born 
1642,  succeeded  his  father  as  third  baronet  1651-2,  was  ambas- 
sador to  Constantinople  1680-1  to  1685,  married  Elizabeth,  d. 
and  coheir  of  Sir  Henry  Bernard,  of  London,  Turkey  merchant ; 
he  died  i6th  October,  1714. 

6 Their  rescue  from  alienation  is  entirely  due  to  Mr.  A.  F.  G. 
Leveson  Gower,  formerly  secretary  at  the  British  Legation  at 
The  Hague. 

28 


under  the  lips  :  '  [ohn  Price  Ministir.  A  v  Swaane- 
wyk  G  vander  heyden  Elders  H  van  Spreken  and 
J.  de  Baans  diacens.'  The  following  inscription 
is  engraved  in  a  plain  shield,  enclosed  in  a  wreath 
of  palms,  in  the  centre  of  the  bodies  :  '  The  Gift  of 
George  Carew  Esquire  to  remaine  with  the  English 
Church  in  the  Hague  for  Euer,  Maij  the  15,  1674.' 
On  the  opposite  side  a  shield  of  arms,  presumably 
the  donor's,  is  engraved  :  three  lions  passant. 
Crest — a  demi-eagle  rising  from  a  cup.  They  are 
inscribed  underneath  :  '  E.x  dono  Georgij  Carew 
May  15,  1674.'  Height,  6§  in. ;  diameter  of  the 
mouth,  4^  in.,  and  of  the  foot,  3  in.  Marks  : 
(i)  Mark  of  The  Hague  ;  (2)  M  in  a  circle  ;  (3) 
lion  rampant  crowned  ;  (4)  \V  in  a  plain  shield. 
The  two  flagons  (fig.  7.)  have  cylindrical  bodies, 
which  are  plain  except  for  the  narrow  borders  of 
chased  acanthus  leaves  below  the  moulded  lips 
and  above  the  wide  moulded  bases.  The  thumb- 
pieces  are  a  sun  with  a  human  face  therein  ;  an 
acanthus  leaf  is  applied  on  the  shoulder  of  the 
plain  scrolled  handles.  A  shield  of  arms  is 
engraved  on  the  flat  circular  platforms  on  the 
covers  :  Argent  six  chess  rooks  sable,  for  Rock- 
wood,  impaling  Azure  a  chief  argent  with  three 
voided  lozenges  azure  therein,  for  Thorogood. 
Crest — .'\  chess  rook  sable  between  two  wings  erect. 
One  flagon  is  inscribed  underneath  :  '  Given 
on  the  6  octob  1681  two  hundred  Gilders  towards 
the  making  of  two  Silver  flaggons  for  the  Com- 
munion Table  the  Rest  Being  added  by  the 
Consistorij  By  msris  Mary  Thorrowgood  w'iddow 
of  Mr.  Robert  Rockwood  in  his  lifetime  envoye 
extraordinary  from  the  Electer  Palatin  to  the 
States  of  the  united  Provinces.'  The  other  flagon 
is  inscribed :  '  The  two  flaggons  were  made  the 
25th  March  1682  and  by  speciall  Command  of  the 
donatrix  are  to  Remain  with  this  our  EngHsh 
Church  for  Ever.'  Total  height,  10  in.,  height  of 
the  bodies,  9  in.,  diameter  of  the  mouths,  4^  in., 
and  of  the  bases,  5I  in.  Marks  :  (i)  The  Hague 
mark ;  (2)  lion  rampant  crowned ;  (3)  H,  in 
a  plain  shield,  with  crown  above ;  (4)  \VH.  with 
a  trefoil  below,  in  a  shaped  shield. 

The  large  bread  dish  (fig.  7),  dating  from  about 
1690,  is  plain,  with  a  shallow  depression  and  a 
wide  flat  rim.  The  donor's  arms  are  engraved  in 
the  centre  with  a  foliated  scroll  mantling  :  Quar- 
terly I  and  4,  three  stars  ;  2,  three  feathers  ;  3,  a  lion 
rampant,  holding  an  ear  of  corn.  Crest — a  demi- 
lion  holding  a  branch.  A  circle,  containing  the 
following  inscription,  surrounds  the  arms  :  '  Studio 
et  opera  lohannis  Vander  Heijden  DeGoiida  luris 
Consulti.'  Diameter,  14  in.  Marks :  (i)  the 
Hague  mark  ;  (2)  lion  rampant  crowned  ;  (3)  L, 
in  a  shield,  crowned  ;  (4)  two  indistinct  initials. 

The  pair  of  plain  dishes  used  as  patens  (fig.  6) 
are  similar  to  the  large  dish,  but  smaller,  being 
I2|in.  in  diameter.  "The  arms  of  the  donor  are 
engraved    in    the    centre,    surrounded    by     this 


6.      liKAKEKS   ANIJ    PATKNS  FoNMliRI.Y   IN    THE    i:X(.I.[SH    CHIRCH    AT  THE    HAGLli 


FLAGiiN-,   AM)    BREAD-DISH    EnKMEKLY    IX    THE    EXCEIMI    CHIKCH    AT   Till    IIA(;r 


>'\ 


DM)       SILVER       SACRAMEXTAI,       VESSICI.S       1\ 
EXCH.lsll    CHIRCIIES   IX    IIOELAXl).      I'l.ATE  HI 


3" 


I'oKTKAir   Ol'    JACguEUXE   DE   BOURGOGXE. 
BY   MABUSE.      IN    THE    NATIONAL    GALLEKY 


Old  Silver  Sacramental  Vessels 


inscription  :  'A  legacy  of  Jacob  Haviiis  Advt. 
in  his  lijftetime  Elder  of  this  Congregation.'  It 
has  the  same  marks  as  the  above  dish. 

This  list  of  plate  is  completed  by  two  small 
plain  circular  plates,  diameter  yi  in.,  and  two 
smaller  ones,  diameter  4^^  in.  All  these  were  made 
at  The  Hague  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Interesting  old  silver  vessels  exist  in  other 
English  and  Scotch  churches  in  Holland,  but  as 
these  have  not  been  seen  personally  by  the  writer 
they  are  excluded  from  this  article.  As  the  need 
for  separate  services  in  the  English  language 
became   unnecessary  owing   to    the   merging   by 


marriage  of  the  British  settlers  with  the  Dutch, 
much  of  the  old  plate  began  to  disappear,  as  did 
that  of  the  once  numerous  foreign  Protestant 
churches  in  England.'  A  notable  instance  is  the 
fine  set  of  four  early  seventeenth-century  beakers 
from  the  Scotch  church  at  Kampveer,*  which  were 
bought  some  years  ago  in  a  shop  in  the  Strand  by 
Earl  Egerton  of  Tatton,  who  presented  them  to 
Manchester  Cathedral. 

'  E.  Alfred  Jones's '  Old  Silver  Sacramental  Vessels  of  Foreign 
Protestant  Churches  in  England,'  1908. 

'For  an  illustration  andanaccouni  of  these  see  A.  J.  S.  Brook's 
article  in  the  '  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of 
Scotland,'  Vol.  i,  third  series,  1890-g,  pp.  166-173. 


^  NOTES  ON  VARIOUS  WORKS  OF   ART  cKs 


TWO  RECENT  ADDITIONS  TO  THE 
NATIONAL  GALLERY 
Two  new  pictures  have  been  added  to  the  Van  Eyck 
Room  at  the  National  Gallery,  and  they  take  their 
places  worthily  on  what  is  perhaps  the  finest 
wall  of  the  whole  collection.  No.  221 1  is 
by  Mabuse — to  give  him  his  old  pleasant 
and  familiar  name ;  it  is  said  to  be  a  portrait 
of  Jacqueline  de  Bourgogne,  and  was  exhibited 
under  that  title  at  the  Toison  d'Or  Exhibition  at 
Bruges  last  summer,  where  the  clear  colour  of  the 
costume  and  background  shone  out  like  a  flower 
in  the  dark  modern-mediaeval  palace,  amidst  gay 
banners  and  glints  of  line  armour  that  seemed  to 
be  worn  by  men-at-arms  passing  in  and  out 
amongst  the  black-cloaked  spectators.  Mabuse 
was  the  last  of  the  perfect  prophets  of  patience 
who  preached  the  perfection  of  the  Van  Eycks. 
To-day  they  are  our  delight  and  refreshment ;  they 
tell  of  ages  when  men  worked  quietly  at  what  they 
could  do  best  day  after  day  in  the  gabled  workshops 
of  the  old  Netherland  towns,  completing  a  finger 
or  a  pearl  as  well  as  they  could,  and  spending  the 
quiet  afternoon  on  the  sunny  bench  of  a  neigh- 
bouring tavern,  or  playing  skittles  with  a  fellow- 
artist,  occasionally  in  the  evening  gathering  at  their 
guildhall,  to  be  escorted  home,  perhaps  rather 
roisteringly,  by  their  apprentices  carrying  torches. 
This  peaceful  routine  was  broken,  unfortunately, 
now  and  then  by  the  horrid  presence  of  foreign 
mercenaries,  who  killed  everybody  who  could  not 
run  away  fast  enough,  and  gave  local  colour  to 
many  a  picture  of  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents. 
Mabuse,  however,  somewhat  of  a  courtier,  followed 
his  patron  over  Europe  to  Italy,  and,  filled  with  the 
glamour  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  became  false  to 
his  native  art.  The  painters  of  his  period  and  after 
lost  the  perfection  of  their  forebears  and  ran 
to  wriggles,  devils  and  other  exaggerations.  In 
his  own  later  works  Mabuse  introduced  elaborate 
backgrounds  of  badly  designed  architecture  that 
could  only  be  carried  out  in  ugly  cast  iron  work, 
instead  of  his  old  gothic  stone  possibilities,  and 
nude  figures  that  were  nothing  but  ugly  diagrams  of 


anatomical  monstrosities.  Only  in  portraiture  his 
old  cunning  remained,  and  he  added  to  it  a  fine 
'  sfumato '  borrowed  from  Leonardo.  The  per- 
sonages look  like  the  solitary  donors  of  some  altar- 
piece  taken  from  a  Holy  Conversation,  the  saints 
all  departed  to  heaven.  Our  new  picture  seems 
to  have  been  painted  after  the  master's  return 
from  Italy,  when  he  was  working  for  Philip  of 
Burgundy,  at  Middleburg  or  Mechlin,  about  the 
year  1515.  The  picture  represents  a  young  lady 
of  rank,  richly  dressed  and  wearing  a  superabun- 
dance of  pearls  :  her  persimmon-red  velvet  bodice 
is  edged  with  them,  her  white  satin  sleeves  elabor- 
ately braided  with  an  interlaced  pattern  of  silver 
blue  are  studded  with  them,  her  bonnet-shaped  cap 
matching  the  sleeves  has  pearls  on  the  pattern  ; 
round  the  white  band  which  is  tied  under  the 
chin  there  are  two  rows  of  large  pearls  beautifully 
gradated  into  the  shadow,  there  are  fine  pearls  on 
the  rich  gold  chain  round  her  neck,  with  a  pyramidal 
sapphire  in  the  centre.  A  large  jewel  of  seven 
sapphires  with  a  large  pendant  pearl  supported 
by  a  thin  gold  chain  is  pinned  to  the  front  of 
her  bodice.  The  face  is  very  softly  modelled  with 
Leonardo-like  gradations  of  grey.  The  lady  has  a 
fair  fine  skin,  very  fine  soft  and  wavy  golden-brown 
hair  and  round  dark  hazel  eyes.  Her  mouth  is 
curious,  the  trick  of  her  under-lip  is  like  Charles  V 
— a  very  Hapsburg  mouth,'  reminding  one  of 
Suckling's  rather  painful  simile  : 

'  Her  lips  were  red  ;  and  one  was  thin 

Compar  d  to  that  was  next  her  chin 

(Some  bee  had  stung  it  newly),' 

How  pleasant  it  would  be  if  this  lady  sliould 
turn  out  to  be,  as  Mr.  J.  P.  Heseltine  cleverly  sur- 
mises, the  sister  of  Charles  who  married  Christian  of 
Denmark  and  who  was  the  mother  of  Princess 
Christina  whose  picture  by  Holbein  queens  it  so 
gloriously  in  the  German  room — long  may  she 
reign. 

Our  Mabuse  lady  holds  a  hollow  planetary  sphere 

'  From  Miss  A.  Ediih  Hcwett's  notes  on  the  two  portraits  of 
Eleonora  of  Spain  in  ihe  February  number,  p.  309,  it  seumsthat 
this  feature  was  Buigundian. 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

in  her  left  hand  and  points  to  the  letters  on  the 
widest  band.  Possibly  by  this  the  time  of  her 
birth  may  be  indicated,  and  so  indirectly  we  may 
find  out  who  she  is.  Whoever  she  is,  here  she 
stands  against  a  translucent  grass  green  background 
framed  in  a  wooden  moulding  harmonizmg  with  the 
frame.  The  painting  of  the  pearls  in  this  picture  is 
peculiar;  they  each  have  accurate  pearly  grey 
reflections  and  little  round  high  lights  of  solid 
impasto  surrounded  by  a  region  of  wonderful 
blue  moonlight  that  is  very  characteristic.  The 
picture  is  on  oak  i  foot  2  inches  high  by  11 
inches  wide.  .    . 

No.  2163  is  not  so  important  as,  but  it  is  very 
similar  to.  No.  221 1.      It  is  a  half-length  portrait 
of  a  young  lady  as  Saint  Mary  Magdalen,  probably 
her  name-saint.      She   wears   a   handsome  gold- 
brocaded  dress,  edged  at  the  neck  and  wrists  with 
fur  and  laced  over  a  cherry-red  bodice.     Attached 
to  the  lacing  is  a  fine  jewel  consisting  of  three 
sapphires,  two  red  stones  and  a  large  pear-shaped 
pearl  pendant.     This  beautifully  painted  pearl  is 
more  solid  than  the  pearls  in  No.  221 1,  but  it  has 
the  same  extended  region  of  blue  moonlight  round 
the  high  light.     On  her  forehead  is  another  jewel, 
a  dark  sapphire  surrounded  by  eight  pearls  held  in 
its  place  by  a  black  velvet  ribbon  ;  a  similar  ribbon 
supports  another  jewel,  like  a  locket,  round  her 
neck.     She  wears  a  single-stone  ruby  ring  on  the 
second  joint  of  the  third  finger  of  her  left  hand. 
This  hand  supports  a  gold  repousse  vase  on  which 
may  be  seen  a  figure  of  Mercury  with  his  winged 
hat  and  staff  and  two  beasts  below.     On  the  cover 
is  a  sea-maid  carrying  a  cupid  on  her  shoulders. 
This  cover  is  held  in  place  by  the  right   hand, 
which  has  a  single-stone  ring,  a  sapphire,   on  the 
second  joint  of  the  first  finger.     The  saint  has  a 
thin  gold  halo,  which   came  to  light   when   the 
picture  was  cleaned,  and  fine  auburn  hair  hanging 
down  her  back.     She  has  a  delicate  nose,  and  her 
mouth  is  partly  open,  showing  her  lower  teeth, 
which  gives  her  an  anxious  expression.    The  lids  of 
her  beautiful  dark  grey  eyes  are  curiously  lifted  over 
the  pupils,  her  complexion  is  very  pale.  She  is  seen 
against  a  dark  blue  background.    The  flesh  painting 
is  more  transparent  than  the  flesh  painting  of  the 
early  works  of  Mabuse,  but  the  dress  and  details  are 
very  like  the  work  in  that  master's  great  picture  at 
Naworth,    the    Adoration    of    ihe    Magi ;    Lord 
Carlisle,  the  happy  owner  of  that  masterpiece,  is 
persuaded  that  this  little  work  is  by  the  same  hand, 
and   he    ought  to   know.    This   masterpiece,  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  closes  the  great  period  of 
early  Netherlandish  art  with  a  glorious  flourish  of 
triumph,  as  the  Adoration  of  the  Lamb  at  Ghent 
opens  it  with  the  finest  master-work  the   school 
ever  produced.     No.  2163  is  on  oak  8^  in.  high 
by  6  in.  wide,  and  has  an  arched  top. 

Charles  Holroyd. 


ST    JOHN    THE    BAPTIST,  BY   CESARE   DA 

SESTO. 
I  HAVE  had  the  good  fortune  to  discover  a  St.  John 
in  the  Wilderness,  which  I  confidently  attribute  to 
the  Leonardesque  painter,  Cesare  da  Sesto.  The 
reproduction  which  accompanies  this  note  relieves 
me  of  the  obligation  to  give  a  detailed  description 
of  this  panel,  which  measures  24  in.  in  height 
by  15  inches  in  width  (sight  measure),  and  is, 
all  things  considered,  in  a  very  remarkable  state 
of  preservation.  The  Milanese  painter  has 
here  illustrated  the  passage  to  be  found  with  but 
slight  variation  in  the  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew 
and  St.  Mark:  'And  John  was  clothed  with 
camel's  hair,  and  with  a  girdle  of  a  skin  about  his 
loins  ;  and  he  did  eat  locusts  and  wild  honey.' 

The  Precursor  is  represented  not  as  the  haggard, 
fiercely  earnest   preacher,    fevered    with    ecstatic 
passion,  but   as   the    magnificent  athlete    in   the 
freshest    bloom   of   manhood.     Cesare    has    evi- 
dently  been    concerned    less    to     represent    the 
saint  in  the  rest  and   solitude  of  the  wilderness 
than  to  show  his  hand  in  the  drawing  and  model- 
ling of  the  nude,  to  give  what  the  Germans  call  an 
Aktstudie,  a  study  of  the  human  body  in  its  per- 
fection.    The  landscape  is  of  rare  originality  and 
beauty,   with  an  exquisiteness  of  finish  that  has 
in  it  nothing  mechanical.    It  is,  indeed,  this  fresh- 
ness and  imaginative  power  in  landscape  art,  of 
which  not  a  few  of  Cesare's  works  afford  evidence, 
that  makes  it  additionally  difficult  to  understand 
why — as  is  asserted  by  Vasari  and  Lomazzo,  with 
especial  reference  to  the  great  Baptism  of  Christ  in 
the  collection  of  Duke  Scotti  at  Milan— he  should 
have  accepted  the  collaboration,  as  a  landscapist, 
of   Bernazzano.      The   lighting    of    the   youthful 
figure,  as  it  appears,  somewhat  too  far  forward  in 
the  picture,  in  the  dark  yet  half-luminous  shade  of 
the  cave,  is  carefully  considered  and  very  skilful. 
The  lovely  peep  of  mountain  and  dale,  melting 
into  blue  distance,  that  we  get  through  the  mouth 
of  the   cave   is   perhaps   more  Alpine   than    true 
Italian  in  character ;  but  the  cave  itself,  with  its 
edges   clothed  with    boldly  jutting,  leafy  under- 
growth, is,  to  my  thinking,  of  a  more  Southern 
type  than  the  rest. 

Very  characteristic  of  Cesare  is  the  treatment  of 
the  branches,  sharply  relieved  against  the  sky,and  of 
the  leaves  themselves  with  their  precise  outline  and 
somewhat  rigid  decoupe  effect.  Note  in  particular 
the  large  shallow  bowl  into  which  the  young 
prophet,  radiant  and  impassive,  is  gathering 
honey  from  the  overhanging  branches.  This  is 
precisely  similar  to  the  bowl  with  which  St. 
John— there  an  older,  graver,  and  more  hieratic 
personage— is  baptizing  Christ  in  the  Scotti 
Baptism  above  mentioned.  It  closely  resembles 
also  the  upper  portion  of  the  dish  with  the  severed 
head  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  Mr.  George 
Salting's    Salome   and   the  Executioner,  of  which 


34 


<  ^ 


X      ,,, 


■=  3 


J> 


another  probably  original  example,  less  fine  in 
quality,  exists  in  the  Imperial  Gallery  at  Vienna. 
Among  the  many  points  absolutely  characteristic 
of  our  master  are  the  drawing  of  the  mouth  and 
peculiar  setting  of  the  eye,  the  painting  of  the 
orange-coloured,  crisply  waving  hair,  the  olive 
colour  of  the  polished  flesh,  the  drawing  of 
the  arms  and  extremities,  the  careful,  almost 
metallic  finish  of  the  modelling,  the  polished 
surface  of  the  whole.  As  regards  these  and 
other  morphological  details,  comparison  may 
usefully  be  made  with  the  somewhat  later 
St.  Jerome  in  Penitence,  by  Cesare,  which  has  quite 
recently  been  added  to  the  Brera  Gallery.  A  point 
of  extreme  importance  must  here  be  emphasized. 
The  Milanese  painter  in  the  modelling  of  his 
St.  John — in  my  picture  no  ascetic  enthusiast, 
as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  but  a  youthful 
Hercules — has  obviously  been  much  influenced  by 
the  Torso  of  the  Belvedere,  which  famous  antique 
was,  as  I  need  hardly  recall,  brought  to  light  in 
Rome  during  the  pontificate  of  Julius  II.  Cesare 
could  hardly  have  seen  in  Milan  a  drawing  or  study 
of  the  precious  fragment  discovered  so  few  years 
previously;  so  that  we  have  here  fresh  evidence 
that  he  was  in  Rome  at  the  moment  of 
Raphael's  predominance  there,  and  diligently 
studied  the  antique,  as  well  as  the  masterpieces  of 
the  Urbinate  and  his  school.  The  position  of  the 
Torso — a  youthful  Hercules  reposing — is  somewhat 
different  from  that  of  the  St.  John,  but  the  imita- 
tion of  the  anatomy,  especially  in  the  rendering 
of  the  thorax  and  the  belly,  and  generally  in  the 
sculptural  modelling,  is  too  striking  to  be  accidental. 
The  lower  limbs,  in  moulding  which  the  master 
has  trusted  more  to  himself  and  his  living 
model,  have  much  less  grandeur  than  the  upper 
part,  less  muscular  grip  too  than  the  mighty  thighs 
of  the  Torso.  Cesare  was  a  great  draughtsman 
in  the  manner  of  Leonardo,  as  we  may  gather 
from  his  studies  lin  the  Accademia  of  Venice,  the 
Albertina  of  Vienna,  and  elsewhere  ;  and  this  is 
just  the  picture  that  would  in  all  probability 
have  been  preceded  by  more  than  one  study, 
both  from  the  antique  and  the  living  nude. 
Signor  Malaguzzi  Valeri  in  his  very  interesting 
article,  '  Cesare  da  Sesto  e  un  nuovo  acquisto  della 
Pinacotheca  di  Brera,'  published  in  the  '  Rassegna 
deir  Arte '  for  February  last,  has  shown  that  several 
among  the  red-chalk  drawings  by  Cesare  in  the 
Accademia  were  done  for  the  St.  Jerome 
in  Penitence  newly  placed  in  the  Brera,  a 
painting  for  which  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
things  less  preparation  would  surely  be  required 
than  for  the  St.  John  the  Baptist  here  reproduced. 
At  present,  however,  I  know  of  no  drawings  that 
would  apply  to  my  picture.  It  is  possible  that 
the  publication  of  this,  as  1  believe,  unknown 
work,  may  draw  some  such  from  their  hiding- 
place  in  the  portfolios. 


Notes  on  Various  JVorks  of  Art 

This  is  not  exactly  the  occasion  for  a  sus- 
tained analysis  of  Cesare  da  Sesto's  csuvre  or 
an  inquiry  into  his  exact  place  in  Milanese 
art ;  and,  indeed,  space  is  lacking  for  any 
such  attempt,  even  if  I  were  that  way  in- 
clined. I  may  state,  however,  that  to  my  thinking 
the  eminent  critics  who  have  dealt  with  the  subject 
have  somewhat  overstated  the  case  in  noting 
Cesare's  passage  from  the  Leonardesque  to  the 
Raphaelesque.  No  doubt  he  was  an  eclectic  ;  no 
doubt  he  earnestly  strove,  as  the  influence  of  the 
departed  Leonardo  naturally  weakened  somewhat 
in  Milan,  to  become  a  satellite  of  the  central  sun 
of  Rome,  and  to  shake  off  what  he  may  possibly 
have  come  to  look  upon  as  provincialism  of  style. 
Yet  he  was,  and  in  essentials  remained  to  the  end 
of  his  career,  a  Milanese  Leonardesque.  Take 
for  instance  the  Madonna  of  the  Bas-Relief 
formerly  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Monson, 
and  now  (as  I  learn  from  Signor  Malaguzzi 
Valeri's  article)  in  that  of  Earl  Carysfort.  This 
is  to  my  thinking  still  markedly  Leonardesque, 
not  less  in  technique  than  in  execution  ;  and  we 
find  a  strong  reminiscence  of  this  picture — an 
absolute  repetition,  indeed,  of  certain  figures — 
in  the  great  Adoration  of  the  Magi  of  the  Naples 
Gallery,  which  is  reckoned,  not  without  reason, 
one  of  the  latest  and  most  Raphaelesque  of 
all  Cesare's  works.  Strive  as  this  Milanese  may, 
and  does,  in  this  his  most  extensive  work,  for 
the  gravity,  the  dramatic  intensity  of  the  Roman 
style,  his  suavity  and  mannered  grace,  his  calm  in 
storm,  his  sweetness  in  lieu  of  stress,  are  Leonard- 
esque (though  emphatically  not  Leonardo's)  to  the 
core.  The  Madonna  and  Child,  ivith  Saints,  of  the 
Hermitage  at  St.  Petersburg,  which  Signor  Mala- 
guzzi Valeri  proves  to  be  essentially  different  from 
Lord  Carysfort's  Madonna  of  the  Bas-Relief,  bears 
much  the  same  relation  to  the  great  altar-piece.  The 
Virgin  and  Child  enthroned  between  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  George  (in  the  collection  of  Sir 
Frederick  Cook),  as  the  Madonna  of  the  Bas-Relief 
does  to  the  Naples  altar-piece.  And  in  Sir 
Frederick  Cook's  picture,  late  though  it  is,  we  may 
trace  Milanese  and  even  Venetian  elements,  as  well 
as  Raphaelesque.  Morelli  has  placed  the  Madonna 
of  the  Bas-Relief  inthe  Roman  period,  and  at  least  as 
late  as  1520,  chiefly  on  the  evidence  of  the  fragment 
of  a  classical  relief  in  the  left  corner,  from  which 
the  picture  has  obtained  its  distinctive  title. 
But  surely  this  evidence  is  very  unsubstantial,  if 
we  weigh  it  against  the  eminently  Leonardesque 
character  of  the  work  as  a  whole.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  classical  bas- 
relief  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to,  or  even 
frequent  in,  Raphaelesque  art.  We  more  readily 
find  examples,  indeed,  in  the  art  of  Venice  :  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  early  Blood  of  the  Redeemer  by 
Giovanni  Bellini,  in  the  National  Gallery  ;  in  the 
Baffo,  Bishop  of  Paphos,  of  the  youthful  Titian  now 

37 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

at  Antwerp  ;  and  in  the  great  picture  to  which  the 
erroneous  title  Sacred  and  Profane  Lo^e  will  ever 
cHng,  argue  as  we  may.  Cesare  da  Sesto  is,  indeed, 
if  I  may  be  allowed  to  press  my  point  a  little  farther 
still,  in  the  earlier  and  more  spontaneous  manifesta- 
tions of  his  art  the  most  Milanese  of  all  the  Milanese 
Leonardesques,  excepting,  perhaps,  the  monoton- 
ous, the  entirely  subjective  and  undramatic 
Gianpetrino.  Andrea  da  Solario  preserves  to 
the  end  something  of  the  fire  and  passion  of  the 
Venetian  school,  "in  which,  as  we  must  assume, 
he  was  trained.  Ambrogio  de  Predis  has  a 
stronger  sense  of  character,  though  far  less  finesse, 
and  less  sustained  accomplishment  than  Cesare  ; 
and  he  is,  moreover,  in  closer  sympathy  with  the  true 
Leonardo.  Luini,  who  really  belongs  in  origin  to 
the  Foppa-Borgognone  group,  although  his  art 
is,  a  little  later  on,  wholly  overshadowed  and  trans- 
formed by  the  influence  of  Leonardo's  works,  has  no 
doubt  the  Milanese  suavity,  even  to  excess  ;  but  he 
has  it  in  his  own  subtly  sweet  and  winning  fashion — 
with  a  certain  noble  serenity,  as  well  as  winning 
grace,  that  is  peculiarly  his.  Cesare  da  Sesto  is 
wholly  self-centred,  wholly  taken  up  with  studied 
elegance  of  rhvthm,  with  exquisiteness  of  finish, 
with  outward  perfection.  He  is  strangely,  some- 
times almost  repellently,  cold  in  his  Milanese 
suavity  that  so  imperfectly  reproduces  the  dis- 
quieting watchfulness,  the  impenetrable  mystery,  of 
the  supreme  master.  And  yet,  wholly  self-centred, 
self-contemplative  as  he  is, we  must  account  him  one 
of  the  most  accomplished  technicians,  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  artists,  among  those  who  stand 
for  the  Leonardesque  phase  of  Milanese  art. 

It  is,  perhaps,  in  his  landscape  backgrounds,  so 
delicate  and  so  fanciful,  that  he  shows  the  nearest 
approach  to  absolute  originality. 

Claude  Phillips. 

THE    'PORTRAIT   OF    A    POET'    IN    THE 

NATIONAL  GALLERY 
In  the  life  of  Ariosto  prefixed  to  Sir  John  Haring- 
ton's  English  version  of  the  '  Orlando  Furioso,' 
published  in  1591,  a  curiously  detailed  description 
of  the  poet's  appearance  is  given.  As  Harington 
was  not  born  until  1561,  this  description,  if  from 
his  own  pen,  must  either  be  second-hand  or  taken 
from  a  picture.  Let  me  quote  it :  '  Ariosto,'  says 
Sir  John,  'was  tall  of  person,  of  complexion  melan- 
cholic, given  to  much  studie  and  musing  ...  he 
was  of  colour  like  an  olive,  somewhat  tawnie  in 
his  face,  but  fayre  skinned  otherwise,  his  haire  was 
blacke  but  he  quicklie  grew  bald,  his  forehead  was 
large  his  eyebrowes  thin,  his  eye  a  little  hollow 
but  very  full  of  life,  and  very  blacke,  his  nose  was 
large  and  hooked,  his  teeth  passing  even  and  white, 
his  cheekes  but  leane,  his  beard  very  thin,  his  neck 
well  proportioned,  his  shoulders  square  and  well 
made,  but  somewhat  stooping.  .  .  .  His  counter- 
fait  was  taken  by  Tytiano  that  excellent  drawer  as 

38 


well  to  the  life  that  a  man  would  thinke  yet  it  were 
alive.  He  was  honoured  with  the  Lawrell,  etc' 
This  description  fits,  with  an  accuracy  which 
surely  cannot  be  accidental,  the  much-debated 
portrait  of  a  poet  in  the  National  Gallery  (No.  636), 
which  was  catalogued  so  long  as  'Ariosto,  by 
Titian,' which  then,  for  a  season,  became,  officially, 
'  A  Poet,  by  Palma,'  and  is  now  '  A  Poet,  by  Titian.' 
Harington's  authorities  for  the  life  of  Ariosto  are 
given  by  himself  as  '  Gierolamo  Porro  of  Padoa, 
Gierolamo  Garofaloof  Ferrara,  and  Simon  Fornari 
of  Rheggio.'  -Can  one  of  these  gentlemen,  on 
being  called  on  for  a  description,  have  refreshed 
his  memory  with  the  help  of  our  portrait  'by 
Tytiano,  that  excellent  drawer,'  which  answers  so 
completely  to  his  catalogue  of  Ariosto's  features  ? 

Walter  Armstrong. 

REMBRANDT  AND  ELSHEIMER^ 
In  The  Burlington  Magazine  for  November, 
1907,  Dr.  N.  Restorff  drew  attention  to  a  hitherto 
unnoticed  connexion  between  Rembrandt  and 
Elsheimer,  suggesting  that  the  former's  Rape  of 
Proserpine  in  the  Kaiser  Friedrich  Museum  at 
Berlin  is  inspired,  as  regards  the  motif  of  the  action 
and  the  draperies,  by  the  so-called  Contento, 
ascribed  to  Elsheimer,  in  the  Alte  Pinakothek  at 
Munich.  Dr.  Restorff  does  not,  it  is  true,  omit  to 
mention  that  Elsheimer's  authorship  of  this  picture 
is  doubted  by  some  critics,  who  consider  it  merely 
a  copy  made  by  Nikolaus  Kniipfer  of  the  lost 
original.  But  his  conclusion  might  almost  give 
the  impression  that  he  does  not  agree  with  them, 
and  that  he  considers  the  Munich  picture  to  be  an 
Elsheimer,  or  at  least — by  his  'perhaps' — grants 
that  this  is  possible.  This  possibility,  however,  no 
longer  exists,  since  Friedrich  Schlie,  in  his  work 
on  Nikolaus  Kniipfer,'  has  proved  that  the  Munich 
Contento  cannot  be  from  the  hand  of  Elsheimer. 

Schlie  believed  himself  also  to  have  conclusively 
proved  that  it  was  a  work  by  Kniipfer — in  fact, 
the  first  draft  of  his  masterpiece  of  1652,  now  in 
the  Grand  Ducal  Museum  at  Schwerin,  and  not 
an  exact  copy  of  a  supposed  lost  original,  but  a 
fundamentally  independent  development  of  the 
still  extant  painting  by  Elsheimer  in  the  Basle 
Museum  (which  Dr.  W.  Bode  also  considers 
authentic).  These  conclusions,  however,  did  not 
remain  undisputed.  Thus  Dr.  HofstededeGrootwas 
the  first  to  declare  himself  against  Knupfer  as  the 
painter  of  the  Munich  Contento,  without  wishing 
to  support  its  attribution  to  Elsheimer  himself. 

Secondly,  Heinrich  Weizsacker/  who  agrees  with 

'  Translated  by  L.  I.  Armstrong. 

^  Friedrich  Schlie.  '  fiber  Nikolaus  Knupfer  und  einige  seiner 
Gemiilde,  besonders  iiber  seine  Jagd  uach  dcm  Gliick  (sog. 
Contento)  in  Miinchen  und  Schwerin.  Zugleich  ein  Keitrag  zur 
Elsheiiner-Frage.'  .Schwerin,  1896.  Schlie  gives  here  for  the 
first  time  a  very  acceptable  interpretation  of  this  generally 
misunderstood  picture. 

•  '  Kepertorium  fiir  Kunstwissenschaft,'  Band  xxi,  p.  186. 


Schlie  in  the  question  of  the  attribution  of  the 
Munich  Contento  to  Kniipfer,  disputes  Elsheinier's 
authorship  of  the  Basle  picture.  He  endeavours  to 
estabHsh  the  close  connexion  of  the  Munich  Con- 
tento with  the  supposed  lost  picture  by  Elsheimer, 
which  Sandrart  saw  in  the  Cabinet  Du  Fay  at 
Frankfort-on-Main  and  described  in  his  '  Teutsche 
Academie.'  The  arguments  he  puts  forward — 
especially  the  fact  that  two  more  almost  identical 
replicas  *  must  go  back  to  the  same  lost  original 
by  Elsheimer — make  it  fairly  probable  that  the 
Munich  picture  may  really  be  regarded  as  a  copy, 
and  that,  therefore,  the  possibility  of  Rembrandt's 
having  been  irifiuenced  by  Elsheimer's  original 
picture  may  be  considered.  This  is,  however,  not 
finally  proved,  for  Schlie's  hypothesis  that  the 
Munich  Contento  is  an  independent  working-up  of 
the  Basle  picture,  and  that  this  is  by  Elsheimer, 
may  some  day  be  confirmed.  But  as  long  as  it  is 
not  quite  certain  whether  the  motive  of  the  drapery 
in  the  other  lost  Elsheimer  picture  of  Contento  was 
the  same  as  that  in  the  replica  at  Munich,  painted, 
according  to  Schlie  and  Weizsacker,  by  Kniipfer, 
it  is  necessary  to  speak  with  a  certain  reserve  of 
any  influencing  of  Rembrandt.  If  the  draperies 
differed,  we  could  assume  that  Kniipfer  was  in- 
fluenced by  Rembrandt's  Rape  of  Proserpine,  an 
influence  which  his  other  works  do  not  contradict. 
Another  artist,  too,  who  belonged  both  to  the 
Elsheimer  circle  (Lastman,  Pynas,  etc.)  and  after- 
wards to  that  of  Rembrandt,  Claes  Moeyaert, 
painted  in  1644  a  Rape  ofProserpi)ie,  which,  though 
an  artificial  work,  was  closely  connected  with 
Rembrandt's  picture.  It  was  sold  in  1892  at  the 
Biirger-Thore  auction  for  no  francs. 

Since  the  Rembrandt-Elsheimer  discussion  has 
been  opened,  perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  one 
more  reference  to  it. 

Dr.  Bode  very  rightly  claims  that  Rembrandt's 
picture,  Jupiter  witli  Philemon  and  Baucis,  in  the 
collection  of  the  late  Mr.  C.  T.  Yerkes,  of  New  York, 
was  inspired  by  the  example  of  the  same  subject 
painted  by  Elsheimer,  in  the  Dresden  Gallery.  In 
this  case,  indeed,  we  are  fairly  safe  in  supposing  that 
Rembrandt  knew  the  original  itself,  as  this  is 
mentioned  in  the  papers  left  by  his  friend,  Jan  van 
de  Capelle.'  It  is  true  that  the  reversed  arrange- 
ment might  make  one  doubtful,  and  seem  to  indi- 
cate the  probability  that  Goudt's  engraving,  dated 
1612,  was  the  '  model.'  However,  both  the  original 
and  the  engraving  after  it  were  probably  known  to 
Rembrandt,  for  another  work  by  Rembrandt  seems 
to  me  to  be  connected  with  that  of  Elsheimer.  In 
Dr.    Bode's    possession    there    is   a   pen-and-ink 

*  One,  preserved  only  as  an  engraving  in  reverse,  was  in  the 
Cabinet  Poullain  at  Paris.  The  other  is  that  painted  in  water 
colours  by  Elsheimer's  pupil,  J.  Konig,  in  1617  (>igned  and 
dated),  in  the  miniature  collection  of  the  Kgl.  Kesidenz  at 
Munich. 

»  Cf.  '  Oud  Holland,'  1892,  p.  33,  and  W.  R.  Valentiner's  '  Rem- 
brandt and  his  Circle,'  p.  97. 


Notes  on  Various  TVorks  of  Art 

drawing  by  Rembrandt  for  his  first  version  of 
Christ  and  the  Disciples  at  Em  mans  (reproduced  in 
the  '  Leidsche  Jaarboekje,'  1906),  which  repre- 
sents the  figure  of  Christ  in  profile  corresponding 
to  that  of  Jupiter  in  Elsheimer's  Dresden  picture, 
also  in  shadow  against  a  light  background.  The 
relation  between  the  two,  in  spite  of  the  change  of 
theme,  seems  to  me  to  proceed  not  only  from  this 
study,  but  still  more  plainly  from  the  completed 
painting,  the  small,  effective  picture  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Madame  Andre-Jacquemart  at  Paris,  since 
several  details  in  this  picture  indicate  the  con- 
nexion, and  the  figure  in  the  background  with  the 
second  source  of  light  appears  also  in  Elsheimer's 
picture.  This  picture,  amongst  the  best,  if  not  the 
best,  of  Rembrandt's  quite  early  works,  is,  strangely 
enough,  also  in  reverse,  both  of  his  own  sketch 
and  of  Elsheimer's  original.  Probably  this  is  but 
another  sign  of  the  regal  manner  in  which  Rem- 
brandt took  his  own  course,  even  when  utilizing 
another  artist's  conception.  Kurt  Freise. 

ENGLISH  SILVERSMITHS  IN  ST.  PETERS- 
BURG IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  AND 
EARLY  NINETEENTH  CENTURIES 
The  recent  researches '  in  the  archives  at  St.  Peters- 
burg of  Baron  A.  F.  de  Foelkersam,  the  able  and 
courteous  curator  of  the  annexe  to  the  Winter 
Palace  known  as  '  Peter  the  Great's  Gallery,' 
have  brought  to  light  the  names  of  several  English 
silversmiths  who  migrated  to  the  new  Russian 
capital  in  the  eighteenth  century.  As  the  Baron's 
contributions  on  the  subject  are  published  in  the 
Russian  language,  it  will  doubtless  be  of  interest 
and  value  to  many  readers  of  The  BURLINGTON 
M.4GAZINE  if  I  give  the  results  in  English. 

The  removal  of  the  capital  from  Moscow  to  the 
banks  of  the  Neva  appears  to  have  attracted  arti- 
ficers of  all  kinds  from  various  parts  of  Europe. 
In  the  silversmith's  art  alone,  a  large  number  of 
names  of  craftsmen  from  Sweden,  Germany, 
Austria  and  other  places  are  recorded  in  the  books  of 
the  guild  founded  specially  for  the  foreigners  ;  the 
native  Russian  silversmiths  had  a  guild  with  regu- 
lations of  their  own. 

The  ■  following  is  a  list  of  the  names  of  the 
English  silversmiths,  with  a  few  other  details  : — 

Samuel  Gibbs,  described  as  an  '  Englishman,' 
son  of  an  English  widow  who  married  Lieutenant 
John  Eberhardt  Hartmann,  an  officer  in  the  Russian 
army.  His  step-father  apprenticed  him  for  five 
years  to  a  German  silversmith,  named  G.  Jasper, 
who  had  settled  in  St.  Petersburg.  Samuel  Gibbs 
became  a  master-goldsmith  in  1727. 

Robert  Hogg,  '  from  London,'  entered  his  name 
14th  November,  1776. 

William    Donarth,    born    in    London,    became 
master-goldsmith  i8th  January,  1786.     He  would 
seem  to  have  had  a  flourishing  business  if  we  may 
'Published  in  '  Starye  Gody,'  1907. 


39 


Notes  on  Various  JVorks  of  Art 

judge  from  the  number  of  boys— five — apprenticed 
to  him.  His  widow  continued  the  business  after 
his  death  in  1805. 

It  must  not  be  assumed  that  the  above  exhausts 
the  Hst  of  English  silversmiths  ;  other  names, 
suspiciously  English  in  origin,  also  occur,  but  in  a 
Russianized  form.  These  are  omitted  here  because 
the  nationality  is  not  given  in  the  records. 

Unfortunately  no  examples  of  their  productions 
have  so  far  been  discovered  ;  but  perhaps  the 
publication  of  Baron  Foelkersam's  list  will  be  the 
means  of  discovering  specimens. 

These  English  silversmiths  did  not,  apparently, 
practise  their  craft  in  England  before  migrating  to 
Russia,  as  did  one  or  two  of  the  silversmith- 
emigrants  to  America.  The  explanation  probably 
is  that  they  started  out  upon  the  termination  of 
their  apprenticeship  in  London. 

In  making  notes  a  few  weeks  ago  for  my  volume 
on  the  old  English  silver  in  the  possession  of  the 
Czar  of  Russia  I  came  across  a  small  gold  watch 
set  with  large  and  valuable  diamonds,  in  the 
magnificent  Imperial  collection  of  which  I  am 
publishing  a  separate  book.  It  is  named  inside 
'  Robert  Hynam.'  Accordmg  to  Britten's  '  Old 
Clocks  and  Watches  '  this  watchmaker  is  described 
as  '  horloger  de  la  Cour,  St.  Petersburg,'  where  he 
settled.  He  was  on  the  Livery  of  the  Joiners' 
Company  in  1776,  when  his  address  was  given  as 
'  Russia.'  The  number  of  English  clocks  of  the 
eighteenth  century  not  only  in  Russian  palaces 
but  also  in  churches  and  monasteries  is  certainly 
remarkable.  E.  Alfred  Jones. 

TEYLER'S  SECOND  SOCIETY  OF 
HAARLEM,  1908 
The  directors  of  the  Teyler  Foundation  and  the 
members  of  Teyler's  Second  Society  have  arranged 
to  propose  the  following  subjects  to  those  entering 
for  the  prize  they  offer  :  The  completest  possible 
catalogue  of  the  pictures  existing  in  the  churches 
and  religious  institutions  of  the  Northern  Nether- 
lands previous  to  the  year  1566  ;  and  in  the  second 
place  a  catalogue  raisoiine  of  the  pictures  of  the 
Northern  Netherlands  and  neighbourhood  painted 
before  the  year  1566  which  still  exist. 
.'  Since  attention  has  been  given  to  the  pre- 
Reformation  pictures  painted  in  the  Netherlands, 
it  has  become  clear  that  a  large  number  of  them 
originate  from  the  northern  part  of  that  district. 
Ancient  writers  such  as  Van  Mander  mention  but 
few  painters  of  that  time,  and  can  point  to  very 
few  works.  The  study  of  archives  and  art  litera- 
ture has  much  increased  the  list  of  names,  and, 
what  is  more  important,  of  the  pictures  produced. 
The  work  of  Albert  van  Ouwater  and  Geertgen 
Tot  Sint  Jans  at  Haarlem,  of  Cornelis  Engel- 
brechsten  and  Lucas  van  Leyden  at  Leyden,  of 
Jacob  Cornelisz  and  Pieter  Aertsz  at  Amsterdam, 
of  Jan  van  Scorel  at  Utrecht,  of  Hieronymus  Bosch 


at  Bois-le-Duc,  etc.,  can  now  be  studied,  thanks 
to  the  researches  of  our  neighbours. 

Thanks,  too,  to  the  results  of  these  researches, 
the  tradition  that  the  iconoclasm  of  1566  ruined 
all  the  works  of  art  in  the  churches  of  the  Northern 
Netherlands  has  been  proved  untrustworthy.  But, 
with  a  view  to  full  consideration  of  the  field  of 
inquiry,  it  is  necessary  first  to  point  out  as  accu- 
rately as  possible  what  pictures  existed  in  the 
Northern  Netherlands  before  the  year  1566,  and, 
secondly,  to  give  a  catalogue  raisonne  of  the 
pictures  of  North  Netherlandish  origin  which  are 
still  extant. 

The  first  of  these  points  can  only  be  ascertained 
by  a  thorough  examination  of  the  archives  of  the 
churches  and  religious  houses.  Secondly,  in  com- 
piling the  catalogue  raisonne  the  origin  of  the 
pictures  enumerated  must  be  traced  as  far  back  as 
possible,  and  the  copies  which  are  still  extant  must 
be  indicated. 

The  prize  for  the  best  and  most  exhaustive 
answer  is  a  gold  medal  from  the  society,  of  an 
intrinsic  value  of  400  gulden. 

All  answers  must  be  sent  in  before  the  ist  April, 
1910,  and  will  be  judged  before  the  ist  May,  1911. 
They  must  be  easily  legible,  and  written  in  Dutch, 
French,  English  or  German,  in  Latin  characters, 
by  another  hand  than  that  of  the  author. 

No  additions  may  be  made  to  any  answer  after 
it  has  been  sent  in.  No  answer  which  is  incom- 
plete at  the  time  of  presentation  will  be  con- 
sidered. 

The  society  reserves  the  right  of  ownership  of 
all  treatises  sent  in,  together  with  the  right  of  pub- 
lishing the  winning  answers,  with  or  without 
translation,  in  the  society's  '  Treatises,'  but  the 
authors  may  not  publish  their  answers  without 
the  society's  consent.  The  society  also  reserves 
the  right  to  make  any  use  it  thinks  fit  of  the 
unsuccessful  answers,  and  to  withhold  or  to 
mention  the  author's  name  ;  in  the  latter  case, 
however,  his  permission  will  be  obtained. 
\  Authors  of  unsuccessful  treatises  will  be  supplied 
with  copies  thereof  only  at  their  own  cost. 
'  The  answers  must  be  sent  in  anonymously, 
signed  only  with  a  pseudonym,  and  accompanied 
by  a  sealed  note  bearing  the  same  pseudonym, 
arid  containing  the  name  and  address  of  the 
author,  to  the  Foundation  House  of  Pieter  Teyler 
van  der  Hulst  at  Haarlem. 

The  illustration  of  The  Frosty  Morning,  by  J.  M.  W. 
Turner,  which  appeared  in  our  March  number, 
was  reproduced  by  kind  permission  of  Mr.  Franz 
Hanfstaengl,  of  16  Pall  Mall  East,  S.W.,  and  the 
illustration  of  the  Interior  at  Petworth,  in  the  same 
number,  by  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  W.  A. 
Mansell  and  Co.,  405  Oxford  Street,  W.,  the  plates 
in  each  case  being  made  from  copyright  photo- 
graphs. 


40 


cA^  ART  BOOKS  OF  THE  MONTH  r*^ 


ENGRAVING  AND  NUMISMATICS 

Early  Woodcut  Initials.  Selected  and  anno- 
tated by  Oscar  Jennings,  M.D.  Methuen. 
2 IS.  net. 
Dr.  Jennings  has  brought  together  a  splendid 
collection  of  mediaeval  and  Renaissance  initials, 
and  the  170  pages  of  facsimiles,  containing  over 
1,300  specimens  from  the  presses  of  Germany, 
Italy,  France,  Switzerland,  Spain,  the  Netherlands 
and  England,  give  a  survey  of  the  whole  subject 
which  could  hardly,  except  in  certain  details,  be 
bettered.  Completeness  in  such  a  matter  is  hardly 
possible  or  desirable ;  either  the  editor  must  restrict 
himself  to  some  definite  group  of  presses  and  aim 
at  the  exhaustiveness  dear  only  to  specialists,  or 
he  must  choose  the  best  initials  from  all  presses 
with  an  eye  to  their  artistic  merit,  and  delight  the 
man  of  taste.  This  Dr.  Jennings  has  achieved 
with  eminent  success;  no  book  on  initials  hitherto 
produced  has  been  so  rich  in  beautiful  things,  and 
the  author  has  wisely  included,  so  far  as  possible, 
examples  hitherto  unpublished.  The  reproduc- 
tions, moreover,  are  exceedingly  good. 

The  late  gothic  printers  achieved  in  this  depart- 
ment of  the  decoration  of  books,  as  in  others, 
results  that  no  later  generation  has  excelled  ;  none 
of  the  sixteenth-century  work  in  this  book  is  so 
satisfactory  to  the  eye  as  the  early  Ulm  and  Augs- 
burg letters  and  the  alphabets  in  red  from  missals 
printed  by  Sensenschmidt  and  Drach.  The  balance 
between  the  letter  itself  and  the  decoration  is  more 
perfect  in  such  an  initial  as  the  B  of  Richel  (Basle, 
p.  134)  than  it  could  ever  be  when  the  letter  came, 
as  with  Holbein,  to  be  laid  on  the  top  of  a  little 
picture  which  would  be  complete  without  it. 
Beautiful  specimens  are  given  of  the  late  fifteenth- 
century  alphabets  of  Venice,  forerunners  of  that 
Augsburg  Renaissance  decoration  in  which  Weiditz 
bears  the  palm,  and  a  Spanish  alphabet  (p.  255)  is 
of  special  technical  interest  as  a  capital  example  of 
the  manicre  criblee  applied  to  such  a  purpose. 

Every  student  of  a  special  period  will  probably 
miss  in  such  a  volume  something  that  he  would 
expect  to  find  there,  and  be  rewarded  by  the  dis- 
covery of  something  new.  A  few  remarks  on  the 
German  sixteenth-century  work  by  known  artists, 
absent  or  present,  may  be  of  interest  to  certain 
readers.  Holbein's  initials  produced  in  England 
are  not  even  mentioned  in  the  text.  From  the  list 
of  German  alphabet  designers  on  p.  20  the  names 
of  Durer,  Burgkmair,  Schaufelein  should  be  de- 
leted ;  Cranach's  claim  to  a  place  is  doubtful ; 
Springinklee,  Schon,  Traut,  Hopfer,  Breu,  Lem- 
berger  should  be  inserted.  Specimens  of  Spring- 
mklee's  initials  in  the  Eichstiidt  missal  (Holzel, 
1517)  would  have  been  welcome  if  they  could 
be  found  uncoloured ;  Schon  designed  a  fine 
alphabet  for  Petreius, which  we  miss.  Dr.  Jennings, 
as  a  bibliographer,  can  perhaps  hardly  be  expected 
to  have  read  the  special  literature  on  such  minor 


artists  as  Breu  and  Traut,  specimens  of  whose  work, 
fully  described,  he  has  given  unwittingly  on  p.  123 
(not  from  a  Constance  missal,  but  from  the  Regens- 
burg  and  Constance  breviaries)  and  p.  132.  When 
people  write  '  Burgkmair '  in  this  connexion  they 
mean  '  Weiditz.'  Diirer  designed  no  alphabet  except 
the  plain  ones  in  his  book  on  proportion.  The 
alphabet  published  under  his  name  (p.  168)  is  a  copy 
by  Anton  von  Worms  from  the  finer  original  by 
Weiditz  reproduced  in  this  magazine  in  February. 
Anton  von  Worms  is  represented  by  better,  more 
original  work  in  the  large  letters  on  p.  166,  and 
smaller  ones  (p.  167).  The  preposition  '  by  '  is  used, 
by  the  way,  with  provoking  ambiguity  for  artists  and 
printers  alike  in  the  brief,  sometimes  inaccurate, 
titles  at  the  foot  of  the  plates.  Weiditz  is  not  respon- 
sible for  the  last  two  letters  on  p.  125.  The  fine 
Hagenaw  alphabet  on  pp.  264-268  is  doubtless  by 
the  artist  who  signed  the  Crucifixion  cut  in  the 
same  missal  with  a  monogram  to  be  deciphered,  pro- 
bably, as  G.Z.  (Gabriel  Zehender  ?).  The  handsome 
alphabet  designed  for  Apianus  (pp.  274-5)  is  not,  I 
am  convinced,  by  Ostendorfer,  to  whom,  since 
Weigel,  it  has  been  attributed  ;  but  by  an  artist  more 
schooled  in  the  manner  of  the  '  Kleinmeister.' 
Several  of  its  letters  occur  as  early  as  1533-34.  The 
aged  man  with  sphere  and  compass  in  the  C  is 
derived  from  '  Messahalah,  De  scientia  orbis  motus,' 
Nuremberg,  1504,  a  book  which  of  late  has  enjoyed 
a  certain  notoriety  in  connexion  with  Diirer. 

The  four  Strassburg  letters  on  p.  159  from  a 
'Pogge'  (why  thus  gallicize  the  name?)  printed  by 
Schott  for  Knoblouch,  1513,  are  of  special  interest 
as  belonging  to  an  alphabet  by  Hans  Baldung 
unrecorded  in  the  literature  on  that  artist,  and  new 
to  the  reviewer.  One  letter  from  it,  G  (wanting 
here),  is  given  without  indication  of  its  provenance 
in  the  text  to  Dr.  G.  von  T6rey's  publication  of 
Baldung's  drawings.  While  recognizing  in  these 
initials  the  hand  of  Baldung,  I  was  puzzled  for  a 
moment  by  reading  Dr.  Jennings's  statement  that 
one  of  them  was  used  by  Schiirer  in  1505;  Baldung 
was  then  in  his  prentice  days  at  Nuremberg — he 
became  a  citizen  of  Strassburg  in  1509.  Reference 
to  Proctor  (10179)  revealed  a  serious  inaccuracy  in 
the  new  book  :  the  date  should  be  June,  15 10, 
Schiirer's  earliest  date  being  June,  1508.  Full 
information  about  the  alphabet,  only  six  letters  of 
which  are  known,  may  be  wrested  from  Proctor's 
sternly  reticent  pages. 

This  is  by  no  means  the  only  error  of  Dr.  Jen- 
nings. In  addition  to  a  frequent  vagueness  as  to 
the  source  from  which  his  initials  are  derived,  due 
in  part  to  their  being  reproduced  from  some  col- 
lection of  initials,  not  directly  from  the  books, 
there  is  a  deplorable  laxity  about  his  spelling  of 
names  and  titles  ;  '  Waechstein'  for  Wechtlin  is 
a  glaring  instance.  The  statement  about  Durer 
as  an  engraver  (on  wood),  p.  20,  is  an  extraordinary 
perversion  of  history.  The  book  shows  some 
signs  of  having  been  originally  planned  on  a  more 


41 


Engraving  and  Numismatics 

ambitious  scale,  and  there  may  have  been  obstacles 
to  its  completion  which  should  plead  against  a 
harsh  judgment  on  what  has  actually  been  accom- 
plished. C.  D. 

RiJKSPRENTENKABiNET  AMSTERDAM.  Afbeeldingen 
naar  belangrijke  Prenten  en  Teekeningen,  uit- 
gegeven  onder  leiding  van  J.  Ph.  Van  der 
Kellen  Dzn.  Amsterdam  :  W.  Versluys.  12 
parts.  ;^3  3s. 
This  series  of  reproductions  is  intended  to  interest 
a  wider  public  than  that  of  special  students  of 
engraving  in  the  treasures  and  rarities  of  the  Print 
Room  at  Amsterdam.  The  editor  proposes  to 
adhere  to  no  strict  system,  chronological  or  other- 
wise, in  making  his  selection,  but  to  give  specimens 
of  all  kinds  of  work  remarkable  for  artistic  merit. 
The  first  part  includes  specimens  of  Mantegna, 
Baldung  and  Saftleven,  a  mezzotint  portrait  of  the 
Princesse  de  Lamballe,  St.  Aubin's  Bal  Pare,  and 
two  drawings  by  De  Gheyn.  These  are  re- 
produced in  collotype  without  reduction  of  scale. 
An  introductory  plate  explains  the  processes  of 
engraving  to  the  uninitiated  by  illustrating  en- 
graved plates  side  by  side  with  the  impressions  taken 
from  them.  The  titles  and  explanatory  notes  are 
printed  both  in  Dutch  and  French.  The  publica- 
tion would  be  more  likely  to  find  a  home  in  private 
libraries  if  its  dimensions  (nearly  23  by  18  inches) 
were  somewhat  smaller.  C.  D. 

Seals.  By  Walter  de  Gray  Birch.  Connoisseur's 
Library.  1907.  Methuen  and  Co.  25s.  net. 
It  was  natural  that  Dr.  Birch  should  have  been 
asked  to  write  the  volume  on  seals  for  the  Connois- 
seur's Library,  for  he  has  probably  examined  and 
catalogued  more  impressions  than  any  one  in  this 
country.  Experience,  however,  is  one  thing  ;  the 
art  of  imparting  knowledge  another — and  of  this 
art  the  author  has  not  proved  himself  a  master  in 
the  present  work.  It  is  not  suggested  that  he  has 
failed  in  an  easy  task,  for  the  problem  of  presenting 
the  history  of  seals  in  a  form  at  once  concise, 
scholarly  and  readable  is  admittedly  one  of 
extreme  difficulty. 

Voltaire  once  compared  a  certain  history  rich  in 
disconnected  facts  to  a  diary,  remarking  that  a 
journal  is  no  more  a  history  than  a  pile  of  bricks 
is  a  house.  The  volume  before  us  lies  open  to  a 
similar  criticism  :  here  is  the  material  for  a  respect- 
able building,  but  no  structure.  Most  of  the 
chapters  are  piles  of  facts  composed  by  the  method 
of  simple  enumeration  ;  they  impress  the  reader 
like  a  series  of  extracts  from  a  catalogue  compressed 
into  the  semblance  of  a  continuous  narrative.  A 
reference  to  Dr.  Birch's  British  Museum  catalogues 
explains  the  resemblance,  for  although  there  is  no 
literal  reproduction  the  atmosphere  of  a  catalogue 
is  continually  present.  But  what  the  connoisseur 
and  the  general  reader  alike  require  is  not  a  register 

42 


but  a  treatise,  lucidly  written  and  logically  arranged, 
in  which  the  various  lines  of  development,  artistic 
and  historical,  should  be  followed  out  in  a  manner 
at  once  interesting  and  scientific.  Such  a  treatise 
should  have  a  certain  sculptural  quality,  giving  the 
significant  its  due  prominence  and  relegating  the 
secondary  to  the  background.  The  present  volume 
lacks  all  relief :  each  detail  has  the  salience  of  that 
which  precedes  and  follows  it.  The  reader  is  not 
told  with  sufficient  clearness  why  the  fine  seals  are 
to  be  admired,  or  by  what  processes  of  growth  they 
attained  their  excellence.  The  statement  that  they 
are  fine  occurs  in  the  alphabetic  enumeration,  the 
rest  is  left  for  the  student's  own  discovery.  The 
treatment  of  sigillography  on  its  historical  side  is  in 
the  same  manner  incidental  rather  than  consecutive. 
Heraldry  and  the  lore  of  costume,  which  are  so 
intimately  connected  with  seals,  receive  alike  short 
and  inadequate  measure.  The  proportion  of  space 
allotted  to  seals  of  different  countries  will  also 
occasion  some  surprise,  for  although  our  English 
seals  of  the  best  period  are  among  the  finest  ever 
produced,  to  dismiss  all  foreign  examples  in  some 
fifty  pages  is  to  accord  them  less  consideration 
than  they  deserve.  Too  little  notice,  again,  has 
been  given  to  matrices,  a  most  important  part  of 
the  subject.  Any  one  unfamiliar  with  our  museums 
would  hardly  gather  from  this  work  that  large  col- 
lections of  matrices  are  still  in  existence. 

These  are  the  cardinal  defects  which  seriously 
detract  from  the  value  of  the  book  ;  compared 
with  them,  errors  of  detail  are  perhaps  of  secondary 
interest.  But  since  accuracy  in  works  of  this  kind 
is  of  fundamental  importance,  a  few  conspicuous 
errors  may  be  noticed.  The  head  on  the  seal  of 
Bernard  of  Parma  is  a  copy  of  the  portrait  of 
Frederick  II  from  the  gold  coins  of  that  emperor, 
but  Dr.  Birch  describes  it  as  an  unconventional 
portrait  of  Our  Lord,  conceived  after  the  style  of 
a  Roman  emperor.  Corone,  the  seal  of  whose 
bishop  is  illustrated  on  plate  xxxvi,  is  not  near 
Athens,  but  almost  as  far  away  as  it  could  well  be 
while  remaining  within  the  limits  of  Greece. 
Neither  the  intaglio  with  a  wyvern  nor  that  with 
the  Agnus  Dei,  reproduced  on  plate  iii,  can  ac- 
curately be  described  as  ancient,  in  the  sense  of 
antique,  gems.  The  mistakes  in  the  first  chapter, 
which  is  necessarily  a  compilation,  should  receive 
greater  indulgence  than  those  committed  elsewhere, 
but  some  of  them  are  too  glaring  to  escape  at- 
tention. There  is  a  strange  confusion  between 
Sylla  and  Scylla  ;  and  of  Greek  gems  of  the  fourth 
century  it  is  said  that  their  designs  'possess  the 
stiff  unnatural  drawing  which  characterises  that 
epoch.'  After  this,  the  statement,  in  another  part 
of  the  book,  that  Diocletian  lived  in  the  fifth 
century  ceases  to  surprise.  There  is  more  than  one 
unnecessary  error  in  the  description  of  Egyptian 
and  Babylonian  signets.  Engraved  cylinders  go 
back  very  much  further  than  B.C.  2200;  and  the 


use  on  p.  II  of  the  form  Uzukh  (Ur-ukh  ?)  instead 
of  the  modern  version  Ur-Engur,  seems  to  show 
that  Dr.  Birch  has  relied  for  his  information  upon 
books  which  are  now  quite  out  of  date. 

It  is  an  ungrateful  task  to  dwell  upon  the  faults 
of  a  book  which  contains  a  mass  of  useful  informa- 
tion. Better  digested,  relieved  of  the  more  serious 
maccuracies  which  disfigure  it,  the  work  might 
have  attained  a  high  level  of  excellence;  even  as 
it  is,  it  IS  by  no  means  to  be  regarded  as  valueless 
Though  it  fails  to  reach  the  standard  set  by  the 
better  volumes  in  the  series  to  which  it  belongs,  it 
will  continue  of  service  until  the  appearance  of  the 
exhaustive  book  for  which  we  are  still  condemned 
to  wait.  The  student  already  familar  with  the 
general  history  of  seals  will  find  here  a  great  number 
of  details  assembled  for  the  first  time  between  two 
covers  ;  and  if  he  uses  ordinary  caution,  may  con- 
sult the  volume  with  profit  and  convenience. 

As  has  been  the  case  with  all  the  numbers  of 
this  series,  the  publishers  have  done  their  best  in 
the  present  instance  :  the  book  is  well  printed  and 
well  illustrated.  It  is  a  pity  that  these  advantages 
should  be  partly  neutralized  by  the  absence  of 
references  from  the  text  to  the  plates,  a  source  of 
some  annoyance  to  all  but  the  rare  class  of  leisured 
readers.  q 

The  Coins  and  Medals  of  the  Knights  op- 
Malta.     Arranged  and  described  by  Canon 
H.   Calleja   Schembri.     London  :   Eyre   and 
Spottiswoode.     42s.  net. 
The  admirable  work  of  E.  H.  Furse,  '  Memoires 
Numismatiques  de  I'Ordre  Souverain  de  Saint  Jean 
de  Jerusalem,'  has,  since  its  publication  in  1885, 
been  the  chief  authority  on  the  coins  and  medals 
of  the  Knights  of  Rhodes  and  Malta.     It  is  true 
that   certain  additions   have    been    made   to   our 
knowledge  of  the  series  in  the  last  two  decades, 
and    most   of   them   are   incorporated   in    Canon 
Schembri's  book.    It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether 
these  additions  are  important  enough  to  warrant 
the  publication  of  a  volume,  nine-tenths  or  more 
of  which  are  merely  a  repetition  of  information 
already  to  be  found  in  Furse.     We  should   not 
complain  if  the  writer  showed  any  particular  com- 
petence for  his  task.    But  his  qualification  may  be 
gauged  by  the  fact  that  at  the  outset  he  misin- 
terprets the  legend  on  the  gold  sequins  of  Philip 
Villiers  de  I'Isle  Adam,  apparently  not  realizing 
that  it  is  merely  a  blundered  version  of  the  legend 
on  the  ordinary  Venetian  sequin.   It  is  improbable 
that   this   Grand    Master   exercised    the    right   of 
strikmg  coins  at  all  in  Malta,  and  the  writer,  who 
admits  that  there  is  nothing  to  prove  where  the 
coins  were  struck,  would  have  done  better  to  follow 
Furse  in  relegating  them  to  Rhodes.   The  author's 
treatment  of  the  medals  cannot  be  called  scholarly 
his  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  the  subject 
being  slight.     We  find  an  occasional  reference  to 


D 


Engraving  and  Numismatics 

the  work  of  Armand  ;  but,  had  he  used  it  intelli- 
gently, he  might  have  given  the  names  of  the  artists 
of  some  medals  which  in  his  descriptions  appear 
as  anonymous,  although  they  bear  signatures.  He 
might  also  have  added  one  to  his  list  of  medals  of 
Jean  Parisot  de  la  Vallette.  The  half-tone  plates 
are  none  of  them  good,  and  some  quite  the  worst 
we  have  seen — in  curious  contrast  with  the  sump- 
tuousness  of  the  binding. 

PAINTERS    AND    PAINTING 

A  Catalogue  Raisonn£  of  the  Works  of  the 

Most  Eminent  Dutch  Painters  of  the 

Seventeenth  Century.     Based  on  the  work 

of   John  Smith.     By  C.   Hofstede  de  Groot 

(with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  W.  R.  Valentiner). 

Translated  and  edited  by  Edward  G.  Hawke. 

Vol  I.     London  :  Macmillan.    25s.  net. 

Though  inclusion  in  Smith's  catalogue  has  long 

been  an  advertisement  in  the  auction-room,  the 

distinction  has  lost  force  of    recent  years.     John 

Smith   was  a   wonderful   man,  and  the  book  by 

which  he  immortalized  himself  a  wonderful  book. 

But  he  made  no  pretence  either  to  completeness 

or  accuracy,  and  it  was  thus  inevitable  that  the 

advance   of   modern    knowledge  should   make   a 

revised  edition  essential.     In  the  first  place  Smith 

is  no  infallible  guide  as  to  authenticity ;  he  was  a 

very  clever  dealer  indeed,  but  his  critical  judgments 

were  of  a  more  rough  and  ready  kind  than  those 

which    represent   the   accumulated   labours    of  a 

generation  of  modern  scholars.    Fashion,  too,  has 

changed,  and  a  selection  which  omitted  Brouwer, 

Hals,  Vermeer,  and  several  others  who  are  now 

recognized  as  among  the  most  famous  of  Dutch 

masters  could  not  be  regarded  as  final. 

For  the  revision  of  such  a  book  no  living 
authority  could  be  more  competent  than  Dr.  de 
Groot,  and  the  English  translation  is  excellent 
and  accurate.  The  artists  dealt  with  in  the  first 
volume  are  Steen,  Metsu,  Dou,  de  Hooch,  Carel 
Fabritius  and  Vermeer  of  Delft.  The  250  pages 
devoted  to  Jan  Steen  alone  represent  a  colossal 
amount  of  labour.  We  should  not,  perhaps,  feel 
inclined  to  describe  the  exquisite  Lute  Player 
in  the  Wallace  collection  (150)  as  '  similar  in  style  ' 
to  the  Terrace  Scene  in  the  National  Gallery  (142 1), 
for  the  former  is  among  the  most  superb  and 
translucent  of  Steen's  works,  while  the  latter,  with 
all  its  grand  design,  is  hard  and  opaque.  Nor 
does  Egbert  Heemskerk  deserve  to  be  dismissed 
as  '  a  very  indifferent  artist.'  He  was  narrow  and 
exceedingly  unequal,  but  his  best  works  in  jewel- 
like richness  of  colour  and  in  painter-like  handling 
deserve  a  far  more  generous  recognition.  The  list 
of  works  by  Metsu  and  de  Hooch  suggests  the 
hope  that  a  notice  of  the  paintings  of  Ochterveldt, 
on  occasion  an  admirable  master,  may  some  day 
be  found  possible.     Carel  Fabritius  and  Vermeer 

43 


'Painters  and  Painting 

of  Delft  raise  problems  that  are  more  complicated 
than  those  of  figures  and  measurements,  and  as 
regards  both  artists  Dr.  de  Groot  adopts  a.  strictly 
conservative  attitude.  In  the  case  of  Fabritius 
caution  was  specially  necessary,  as  the  few  works 
that  are  his  beyond  all  possible  question  vary  con- 
siderably in  style,  and  the  omission  of  one  or  two 
well-known  pictures  attributed  to  him  in  English 
collections  is  comprehensible  in  a  book  which  has 
to  exclude  tentative  attributions,  but  in  the  case  of 
so  rare  a  master  a  picture  like  the  Reading  Man 
in  Sir  Frederick  Cook's  collection  at  Richmond 
deserved  at  least  a  reference,  even  if  in  the  editor's 
opinion  the  generally  received  attribution  was 
untenable.  In  omitting  The  Lesson  (National  Gal- 
lery, No.  1699)  from  the  work  of  Vermeer  there 
was  more  apparent  reason,  for  though  the  style  and 
sentiment  are  exactly  what  we  might  expect  from 
Vermeer  in  his  youth,  it  is  so  wholly  unlike  the 
Christ  in  the  Honse  of  Mary  and  Martha,  with  its 
strong  reflection  of  the  manner  of  Fabritius,  which 
is  actually  Vermeer's  earliest  known  painting,  that 
hesitation  becomes  a  duty.  The  price  (;^'2,40o) 
paid  for  our  one  indubitable  Vermeer  might  have 
been  mentioned,  and  the  initials  of  the  signature 
cannot  correctly  be  described  as  '  intertwined.' 
The  reference  to  '  pictures '  by  L.  Boursse  in  the 
Wallace  collection  is  surely  incorrect  ?  The  only 
example  known  to  us  is  No.  166 ;  Interior  : 
Woman  Cooking. 

No  brief  notice,  however,  can  do  justice  to  the 
wonderful  amount  of  information  compressed 
into  the  book,  which  will  prove  as  indispensable  to 
every  serious  student  of  Dutch  pictures  as  it  is  to 
their  owners  and  collectors. 

Die  Kunst  des  Portrats.  By  Wilhelm  Waetzoldt. 

Leipzig  :  Hirt  and  Son.    1908.     Paper,  M.  12  ; 

bound,  M.  14.50. 
The  art  of  portrait-painting  has  from  the  earliest 
days,  since  the  painter  became  an  artist  on  his 
own  account,  exercised  a  growing  fascination  for 
the  minds  of  both  artist  and  spectator,  and,  it  may 
be  added,  for  the  patron  of  art  as  well.  This  is 
easily  intelligible,  for  where  the  artist  has  the 
advantage  of  a  series  of  living  models  to  work 
from,  each  presenting  some  different  aspect  to  in- 
terest him  and  call  out  his  ability,  the  spectator 
sees  something  which  is  akin  to  his  own  person- 
ality and  therefore  more  easily  apprehended  by 
the  untutored  mind.  When,  however,  the  question 
arises,  what  is  a  good  portrait  ?,  there  is  a  bewilder- 
ing diversity  of  opinion,  with  which  the  average 
mind  finds  some  difficulty  in  coping. 

Should  a  portrait  be  an  exact  counterfeit,  or  an 
interpretation  ?  Should  it  only  please,  or  should 
it  convey  a  lesson  ?  Should  it  show  the  sitter  in 
a  conventional  pose,  or  should  it  illustrate  some 
momentary  action  or  expression  ?  Should  the 
lace  or  the  costume  predominate  ?     Such  are  a 

44 


few  among  the  many  questions  which  rise  to  the 
lips,  and  have  to  be  answered  by  the  portrait 
painter.  Herr  Waetzoldt  has  set  himself  the  task 
of  reviewing  the  history  of  portrait-painting  from 
the  earliest  day  to  the  present,  from  the  rude  efforts 
of  primitive  man  and  of  children  to  Watts,  Len- 
bach,  Boecklin  and  Anders  Zorn.  It  can  be  under- 
stood therefore  that  within  the  450  pages  of  his 
book  there  is  a  great  deal  to  read,  and  as  the 
author's  style  is  not  easy,  while  the  sentences  are 
long,  and  many  of  the  words  small  sentences  in 
themselves,  the  reader  requires  some  time  and 
leisure  for  his  task. 

Herr  Waetzoldt  does  not  lay  down  any  rules 
for  the  painting  of  portraits.  He  merely  reviews 
the  long  list  of  portrait  painters  in  different  styles 
and  different  periods  in  order  to  illustrate  the 
different  phases  of  the  art  and  the  various  pro- 
blems arising  therefrom  which  the  painter  is  called 
upon  to  solve.  The  latter  portion  of  the  book  is 
devoted  to  an  interesting  study  of  the  self-portraits 
of  artists.  As  a  contribution  to  the  history  of 
Kunst  nnd  Wissenchaft  the  book  has  considerable 
value,  and  those  who  have  patience  to  read  sen- 
tences like  the  following  will  be  rewarded  for  their 
pains.  In  his  concluding  words  the  author  says  : — 
'  Von  den  prinzipiellen  iisthetischen  Problemen  der 
Menschendarstellung  zu  den  individuell-psycholo- 
gischen  des  darstellenden  Menschen  ging  der  Weg 
unserer  Betrachtung.  Wir  begannen  mit  der 
Kunst  der  bildnerischen  Individualiserung  und 
schlossen  mit  der  malerischen  Selbstoffenbarung 
der  kunstlerischen  Individualitat.  .  .  .' 

One  of  the  most  satisfactory  features  of  this  in- 
teresting book  is  the  high  place  given  to  the  great 
portrait  painters  of  the  English  school — to  Hogarth, 
Reynolds,  Gainsborough  and  Watts — and  the  re- 
spect shown  not  only  for  the  paintings  of  this 
school  but  for  the  value  of  the  written  works  of 
Jonathan  Richardson  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  as 
a  source  of  inspiration  to  the  artist.  L.  C. 

La  Peinture  Anglaise  de  ses  Origines  A  nos 
Jours.  Par  Armand  Dayot.  Avec  25  helio- 
gravures et  282  illustrations  dans  le  texte. 
Paris  :  Lucien  Laveur.  50  francs. 
This  large  and  profusely  illustrated  book  is  one 
of  the  many  signs  of  the  interest  which  the  conti- 
nent is  now  taking  in  British  art.  M.  Dayot  brings 
to  his  task  uncommon  assiduity  and  enthusiasm 
as  well  as  the  practical  experience  of  all  kinds  of 
painting  which  an  Inspector-General  of  the  Fine 
Arts  in  France  is  bound  to  possess.  The  field 
covered  by  his  book,  moreover,  is  as  wide  as,  and, 
so  far  as  living  painters  are  concerned,  even  wider 
than,  that  occupied  by  the  vast  work  of  Muther ; 
and  the  pictures  selected  for  illustrations  are  less 
hackneyed.  Here  and  there,  indeed,  we  notice 
mistakes  in  attribution,  notably  in  the  case  of 
Constable.     But  for  the  most  part  the  scope  and 


appearance  of  the  book  are  all  that  could 
be  desired  in  an  introductory  study  of  the  sub- 
ject. 

When  we  come  to  details  the  verdict  cannot  be 
quite  so  satisfactory.     In  the  first  place  the  proofs 
ought  to  have  been  read  by  an  Englishman,  since 
misprmts   in   names   and   dates  are   distressingly 
common,  and  some  of  them  will  baffle  even  those 
whose  acquaintance  with  the  subject  is  more  than 
elementary.     Nor  are   the  blunders   confined    to 
names  and  dates.     The  list  of  Ruskin's  principal 
works  omits  all  mention  of    'Modern   Painters,' 
'The  Stones  of  Venice'  and    'Seven    Lamps   of 
Architecture' ;  J.  F.  Lewis  is  mentioned  with  John 
Linnell  as  a  painter  of  stormy  landscapes  ;  while 
the   list   of    Preraphaelites   who   imitated  Madox 
Brown  in  the  painting  of  detail  includes  the  names 
of    Burne  Jones,  Stanhope,  \V.    Fisk    (sic)    and 
Strudwick.   To  call  old  James  Ward  a  painter  'd'un 
metier  sec  et  penible'  does  not  suggest  any  very 
definite  memory  of  that  artist's  fluid  and  forcible 
brushwork,  and  many  other  instances  of  similar 
inaccuracy  might  be   enumerated.     The   fact    is, 
M.   Dayot  has  tried  to  assimilate  rapidly  a  subject 
which  even  in  England  has  proved  too  much  for 
any  single  writer,  and  he  hasadded  to  his  difficulties 
by  sweeping  both  small  and  great  into  his  net,  and 
dealing  with  water  colour  and  caricature  as  well  as 
with  oil  painting.     We  cannot  always  in   conse- 
quence see  the  wood  for  the  trees.     It  would  have 
been  wiser  to  concentrate  attention  upon  the  chief 
figuresand  thecardinal  movements  in  English  paint- 
ing, and  leave  the  minor  men  alone.    Even  in  Eng- 
land they  havealready  become  negligible  quantities, 
and  it  is  unlikely  that  they  will  ever  be  more  than 
that  elsewhere.  In  afield  so  limited  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  obtain  good  authority  for  the  essential  facts, 
and  to  do  critical  justice  to  the  artists  selected. 
The  present  work,  in  spite  of  its  comprehensive- 
ness, its  enthusiasm    and   the  admirable  way  in 
which  it  IS  produced,  cannot  be  called  trustworthy 
in  either  of  these  respects. 

C.J.  H. 

Sir    Henry    Raeburn.      By    R.    S.    Clouston. 
London  :  Newnes.     3s.  6d.  net. 

Sir  TH0M.4S   Lawrence.     By   R.   s.  Clouston. 
London  :  Newnes.     3s.  6d.  net. 

The  short  biographies  prefixed  to  the  collections 
of  pictures  which  are  the  feature  of  Messrs. 
Newnes's  series  are  well  adapted  to  their  purpose, 
and  preserve  a  just  balance  between  biography 
and  criticism.  In  the  Lawrence  volume  the  por- 
trait called  Miss  PheUfs  (sic),  on  p.  16,  has  surely 
been  inserted  in  error.  Neither  costume  nor 
painting  shows  a  trace  of  Lawrence.  The  portrait 
of  a  lady  on  p.  22  also  does  not  look  like  Lawrence 
though  it  IS  evidently  a  very  good  picture,  not  un- 
worthy of  Watts  in  his  early  days. 


T^atnters  and  T^ainting 

Velasquez.     By  R.  A.  M.  Stevenson.     London : 

Bell.     3s.   6d.   net.      Perugino.     By  G.   C. 

Williamson,  Litt.D.     London  :  Bell.     3s.  6d. 

net.     Piero  della  Francesca.     By  W.  G. 

Waters,  M.A.     London  :    Bell.     3s.  6d.  net. 

PINTURICCHIO.     By  Evelyn  March   Phillips. 

London  :  Bell.  3s.  6d.  net. 
Messrs.  Bell  have  done  well  in  reissuing  their 
'  Handbooks  of  the  Great  Masters '  at  a  cheaper 
price,  for,  though  the  volumes  of  the  series  are  of 
unequal  merit,  the  majority  of  them  exhibit  a 
higher  standard  of  scholarship  than  is  common  in 
popular  English  books  on  art,  and  a  considerable 
proportion  of  them  deal  with  painters  of  whom  no 
other  account  is  generally  accessible.  The  late 
Mr.  R.  A.  M.  Stevenson's  book  on  Velazquez  has 
always  enjoyed  a  great  reputation,  and  in  its  present 
form  should  find  a  still  larger  circle  of  readers. 
The  book  on  Pinturicchio  shows  evidence  of 
careful  study  and  is  moderate  and  sensible  in  tone. 
In  that  on  Piero  della  Francesca  the  author  was 
evidently  overwhelmed  by  the  greatness  of  his 
subject,  which  called  for  more  largeness  and  clarity 
of  treatment  than  have  been  given  it.  The  book  on 
Perugino,  too,  was  no  easy  task,  for  few  painters 
have  combined  such  considerable  beauties  with 
so  much  weakness. 

Fifty  Years  of  Modern  Painting— Corot  to 
Sargent.  By  J.  E.  Phythian.  London: 
Grant  Richards.  los.  6d.  net. 
The  various  attempts  that  have  been  made  to 
sum  up  the  art  movements  of  the  last  half-century 
seem  to  show  that  the  task  is  at  present  almost  an 
impossible  one.  The  chief  actors  on  the  stage  are 
always  so  closely  beset  by  a  crowd  of  lesser  "lights 
and  supers  that  we  cannot  distinguish  them  plainly. 
Time  is  necessary  for  the  revelation  of  the  real 
protagonists,  and  thus  in  his  careful  book  Mr. 
Phythian  has  been  most  sucessful  with  his  earlier 
chapters.  When  he  comes  to  artists  who  are  but 
recently  dead  or  are  still  working  among  us  his 
vision  becomes  less  clear.  A  tendency  to  moralize, 
an  occasional  reliance  upon  Dr.  Muther,  and  the 
not  infrequent  verbal  confusions  are  more  impor- 
tant faults  than  the  few  errors  of  fact  we  have 
noticed,  so  that  the  book,  if  not  inspired,  is  by  no 
means  a  bad  introduction  to  the  subject— the 
more  so  because  its  judgments  are  fair  to  many 
diverse  ideals  and  are  generally  backed  by  a  sound 
appreciation  of  design.  It  is  therefore  unlucky 
that  Mr.  Phythian,  while  praising  the  painting  of 
Sandys  and  Israels,  should  be  unjust  to  Paul 
Baudry,  and  miss  the  significance  of  Daumier. 
Being  intended  chiefly  for  English  readers,  the 
volume  pays  special  attention  to  British  art,  with 
results  that  are  sometimes  odd.  Daubigny  is  but 
a  name  in  a  list,five  words  are  devoted  to  Monticelli, 
but  Mr.  Yeames  has  a  whole  paragraph  to  himself, 
and    Boughton   more   than    a    page.     The    little 

45 


Painters  and  Painting 

illustrations  are  not  ill  selected,  though  L'^mou; 
Vainqiiciir  does  not  show  the  real  Millet,  and  the 
landscape  by  Camille  Pissarro  surely  represents 
Louveciennes,  not  Vincennes  ?  C.  J.  H. 

L'CEUVRE    DE   J.    B.    S.   Chardin    et  de  J.   H. 
Fragonard.     230  reproductions.     Introduc- 
tion par  Armand  Dayot.     Notes  par  Ldandre 
Vaillant.     Paris  :  F.  Gittler. 
This  profusely  illustrated  memorial  of  the  exhibi- 
tion of  Chardin  and  Fragonard  held  last  year  at  the 
Galerics  Georges  Petit  makes  no  pretence  to  the 
completeness  of  a  catalogue  raisonm,  since,  as  M. 
Vaillant   remarks,  the  notes  are  no  more  than  a 
summary  of  the  information  he  obtained    while 
acting  as  secretary  to  the  exhibition.     We  at  once 
detect,  for  instance,  the  absence  of  certain  famous 
works  by  Chardin,  and  in  the  case  of  one  example 
illustrated  the  notes  mention  the  replica  in  the 
Cook  collection  at  Richmond  but  omit  the  second 
replica  in  the  National  Gallery.     Yet  if   the  book 
makes  no  pretence  to  completeness  it  is  none  the 
less  a  valuable  series  of  reproductions  of  two  of 
the    most    notable  masters  of  eighteenth-century 
France,  and  representing  the  two  strongly  con- 
trasted   aspects   of   the   national   character.       In 
Chardin  we  have  French  logic,  science,   balance 
and  good  sense  applied  consistently  to  the  art  of 
painting  as  they  have  rarely  or  never  been  applied 
elsewhere,    except     perhaps     by    Velazquez ;     in 
Fragonard  the  ease,  gaiety  and  luxury  of  the  court 
which  the  Revolution  overwhelmed  attain  complete 
aesthetic  fruition. 

Wilton  House  Pictures.     By  Nevile  R.  Wil- 
kinson.    2  vols.     London  :  Chiswick  Press. 

Captain  Nevile  Wilkinson's  catalogue  of  the 
collection  at  Wilton  House  is  conceived  on  a 
sumptuous  scale,  is  admirably  printed,  and  is  illus- 
trated with  good  photogravures  of  the  most  famous 
works  in  Lord  Pembroke's  possession.  Even  from 
a  cursory  examination  it  is  evident  that  the  cata- 
loguing has  been  most  carefully  and  completely 
done,  and  the  work  is  a  worthy  summary  of  present 
expert  knowledge  on  the  subject  to  which  it  is 
devoted.  We  note  that  in  the  discussion  of  the 
Diptych  the  late  M.  Bouchot's  name  is  misspelled. 


MISCELLANEOUS 

Art  in  Needlework.  By  Lewis  F.  Day  and  Mary 
Buckle.     B.  T.  Batsford.     5s. 

The  handbook  on  embroidery  by  Mr.  Louis  F.  Day 
and  Miss  Mary  Buckle,  of  which  a  new  edition  has 
lately  been  issued,  illustrates  sufficiently  the  difficul- 
ties that  the  compiler  of  such  a  volume  has  to 
deal  with.  The  question  of  illustration  is  the  first 
preoccupation  ;  such  a  book  has  to  be  issued  at  a 

46 


price  that  shall  make  it  available  for  students,  and 
the  result  is  a  small  page  and  illustrations  cramped 
and  reduced  until  most  of  the  detail  is  lost  and 
they  are  not  of  much  value  to  just  the  person  for 
whom  the  book  is  intended.  Miss  Buckle  is  an 
accomplished  embroideress  and  Mr.  Day  a  prac- 
tised writer  on  art-manuals,  and  they  have  dealt 
with  this  difficulty  with  considerable  but  not  un- 
qualified success  ;  most  of  the  illustrations,  too,  are 
very  clear  considering  their  small  scale. 

The  stitches  described  are  given  in  a  series  of 
samplers  of  which  the  wrong  side  is  also  pictured, 
an  ingenious  device  greatly  helping  the  already 
clear  explanations.  Five  or  six  of  the  samplers 
and  the  accompanying  letterpress,  however,  might 
well  have  been  cut  out.  A  great  many  useless  and 
trifling  fancy-stitches  are  discussed,  taking  up 
space  that  could  then  have  been  given  to  more 
serious  sides  of  the  art.  This  is  a  defect  not 
particular  to  Mr.  Day's  book  but  common  to  all 
handbooks  on  this  subject ;  they  all  make  too  much 
of  the  stitch  and  too  little  of  style.  In  the  chapter 
on  chain-stitch,  nothing  issaid  about  the  fascinating 
bird  which  initials  the  chapter  ;  two  lines  are 
devoted  to  the  beautiful  piece  of  German  white 
work  on  page  44  ;  while  the  rest  is  mostly  given  to 
explanation  of  a  sampler  dull  enough  to  frighten 
any  student  away  from  the  work.  All  the  freshness 
and  ingenuity  of  this  charming  stitch  have  trickled 
away  under  the  enchanter's  wand.  The  inlay 
Rescht  work,  with  its  bold  use  of  chain-stitch,  is 
dealt  with  in  a  rather  languid  spirit  that  gives  little 
reflection  of  its  splendour,  and  the  example  shown 
is  not  striking  or  of  the  best  time.  "The  finest 
Rescht  work  leaves  one  breathless  with  delight 
before  its  flower-like  beauty  and  wonderful  large- 
ness of  handling. 

Mr.  Day  never  loses  sight  of  the  importance  of 
thoroughness  in  technique,  but  he  does  sometimes 
lose  sight  of  the  importance  of  quickening  the 
interest  and  stimulating  the  taste  of  his  student- 
readers.  The  writing  is  too  impersonal,  not  human 
enough.  The  chapters  on  church  work  and  on 
treatment  of  the  figure  would  have  been  better 
away.  A  few  pages  on  figure-work  and  a  bare 
mention  of  the  finest  mediaeval  embroideries 
merely  puzzle  a  student ;  she  will  have  heard  some- 
thing of  their  romance  and  beauty,  and  will  want 
to  know  more  about  them,  but  Mr.  Day  is  too 
busy  with  careful  and  able  explanation  of  lesser 
things  to  tell  the  tale  of  these. 

The  chapter  on  a  '  Plea  for  Simplicity '  is  the 
best  in  the  book,  and  I  wish  to  give  it  unqualified 
praise.  Putting  myself  in  the  place  of  an  inquiring 
student,  I  know  that,  coming  to  the  book  for 
guidance,  I  should  get  more  out  of  these  few  pages 
— an  epitome  of  suggestion  and  information  and 
the  best  sort  of  advice— than  from  all  the  rest  of 
the  book.     It  is  an  admirably  skilful  bit  of  writing. 

May  Morris. 


Miscellaneous 


A   History   of   the   Minories,   London.    By 
E.  M.  Tomlinson,  M.A.     Smith,  Elder  &  Co. 
i8s.  net. 
The  eastern  wards  of  the  city  of  London  are  rich 
in  associations  with  the  early  rehgious  guilds,  and 
the  writer  of  this  interesting  volume  has  earned  the 
gratitude   of    all   lovers   of   antiquarian    research. 
Comparatively  few  persons  frequenting  the  thor- 
oughfare  between   Houndsditch  and    the   Tower 
Bridge   are   aware  that  they  are  passing  through 
Knighten  Guild,  so  named  by  King  Edgar  in  com- 
memoration of  the  accomplishment  of  three  com- 
bats— one  above  ground,  one  underground,  and  the 
third  in  the  water — and  a  successful  tournament  in 
East  Smithfield  by  each  of  thirteen  of  his  bravest 
knights.     Such  was  the  ancient  designation  of  the 
ward  of  Portsoken,  which  was  ruled  over  by  the 
prior  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity   within 
Aldgate  until  the  priory  was  surrendered  to  King 
Henry  VIII,  when  his  reverence   was  superseded 
by  an  alderman  of    London.     The  priory  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  on  the  one  side  and  the  Tower  of 
London   on   the   other    have   hitherto   somewhat 
obscured  the  Sisterhood  of  the  Order  of  St.  Clare, 
which  settled  in  this  ward  and  gave  its  name  to  the 
street   known   as   the    Minories.     Dugdale  in  his 
'  Monasticon  '  says  :    '  King  Edward  the  I  in  the 
2 1st  year   of    his    reign    granted   his   licence    in 
mortmain    to    Edmund  his  brother  and  his  wife 
Blanche  Queen  of  Navarre  to  build  a  house  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Botolph's  without  Algate  for  nuns 
of  the  order  of  Minoresses  there  to  remain  in  the 
service  of  God,  the  Blessed  Mary  and  St.  Francis.' 
The  abbey  which  was  then  erected  covered  about 
five  acres  of  ground  outside  the  city  wall  between 
Aldgate  and  the  Tower  and  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Minories.     It  was  enclosed  by  walls  with  gates,  and, 
although  within  the  area  of  the  parish  of  St.  Botolph, 
Aldgate,  obtained  all  the  privileges  and  immunities 
of  a  'peculiar.'    Formerly  a  precinct,  it  subsequently 
became  annexed  to  the  Liberty  of  the  Tower,  until 
a  few  years  since  it  was  absorbed  into  the  county  of 
London.     Mr.   Tomlinson    has  compiled  a  most 
interesting  account  of  the  abbey,  which  will  be  a 
valuable  nucleus  for  a  more  detailed  history  of  the 
order.    Upon  the  suppression  of  the  abbey  in  1538 
King  Henry  VIII,  desiring  when  at  his  palace  at 
Westminster  '  to  have  the  nobles  of  his  Realm  and 
his  faithful  and  trustie  Counsaillours  to  be  nere 
unto  the  said  Palace,'  granted  the  precinct  of  the 
Minories  to  the  See  of  Bath  and  Wells  in  exchange 
for  the  bishops'  residence  then  near  Temple  Bar,  and 
for  the  next  ten  years  it  was  known  as  Bath  Place 
and  occupied  first  by  John   Clerk,  formerly  rector 
of  Hothfield  (not  Northfield,  as  Mr.  Tomlinson 
has  it),  Kent,  a  devoted  servant  of  Cardinal  Wolsey; 
then    by    W.    Knight    (who    succeeded    Clerk   as 
bishop),  at  one  time  rector  of  Romald  Kirk  (not 
Ro/iald  Kirk),  and  vicar  of  Bangor,  and  holder  of 
numerous   other   preferments.      Bishop    Barlow, 


Knight's  successor,  was  the  last  bishop  of  Bath 
to  occupy  Bath  Place,  for  in  1548  he  transferred 
the  entire  precinct  to  King  Edward  VI,  who  in  the 
sixth  year  of  his  reign  granted  it  to  the  ill-fated 
Henry  Grey,  duke  of  Suffolk,  and  it  was  subse- 
quently acquired  by  the  marquis  of  Winchester,  who 
presented  it  in  1563  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  buildings  was  con- 
verted into  storehouses  and  workshops  for  the 
ordnance  department. 

A  residence  was  assigned  to  the  Lieutenant- 
General  of  the  Ordnance,  an  important  post  held 
by  many  distinguished  men.  The  rules  devised 
by  Sir  William  Pelham,  Lieutenant-General  in 
1566,  for  organizing  a  volunteer  office  contain  some 
practical  suggestions  which  would  not  be  now  out 
of  date — viz.,  amongst  others:  '  that  all  men  joining 
the  force  should  be  free  from  all  taxes  and  that  the 
towns  provide  prizes  to  be  shot  for  annually." 
It  was  during  Pelham's  tenure  of  office  that  the 
body  of  the  gallant  Sir  Philip  Sidney  was  brought 
to  the  Minories  and  laid  in  state  there  until  its 
burial  at  S.  Paul's.  Sir  William  Heydon  and  his 
brother  Sir  John,  the  last  Lieutenant-General  of 
Ordnance  before  Cromwell's  government  took  pos- 
session, were  long  resident  in  the  Minories  and 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  concerns  of  the  parish : 
their  name  is  preserved  to  the  present  day,  as 
Haydon  Square  and  Haydon  Street  still  remain. 
Colonel  Legge  was  appointed  by  King  Charles  II, 
and  his  vault  in  the  church  was  until  quite  recently 
the  burial-place  of  the  Dartmouth  family.  This 
little  church  is  the  only  building  of  interest  now 
remaining. 

Owning  no  allegiance  to  the  bishop  of  London, 
its  ministers  claimed  and  long  exercised  the  right 
of  performing  marriages  without  banns  or  licence, 
and  the  fees  which  were  received  for  these  cere- 
monies formed  the  main  part  of  their  income,  for 
although  the  precinct  was  subject  to  a  2s.  9d. 
tithe  under  an  Act  of  Henry  VIII,  the  inhabitants 
appear  to  have  claimed  the  ownership  of  the  tithes 
as  if  they  were  lay  rectors,  and  only  raised  amongst 
themselves  a  very  small  pittance  for  their  minister. 
In  an  adjacent  parish  where  a  2S.  Qd.  tithe  was 
payable,  the  parishioners  quarrelled  with  their 
patrons  (recently  described  as  '  the  poorest  col- 
lege in  Cambridge'),  and  the  dispute  was  settled 
by  a  private  Act  of  Parliament  fixmg  in  perpetuity 
the  amount  to  be  paid  in  lieu  of  tithe,  which  is  now 
raised  by  an  occasional  rate  of  a  fraction  of  a  penny, 
evidence  that  the  citizens  of  London  were  perhaps 
wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  patrons.  The 
parish  registers  and  other  parochial  records  being 
in  excellent  preservation  have  enabled  the  author  to 
continue  the  history  of  this  interesting  piece  of  Old 
London  down  to  modern  days.  The  illustrations 
have  been  selected  with  care,  but  the  index  is  some- 
what meagre. 

C.  R.  R. 


47 


Miscellaneous 


Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland.  I5y 
Lewis  Carroll.  Illustrated  by  Arthur  Rack- 
ham.  London  :  Heinemann.  6s.  net. 
No  better  testimony  to  the  skill  and  humour  of 
Tenniel  could  be  adduced  than  this  new  edition 
of  the  '  Alice  in  Wonderland '  which  he  immor- 
talized. Mr.  Rackham  is  among  the  cleverest, 
daintiest  and  most  fanciful  of  our  illustrators, 
and  his  taste  in  colour  carries  off  the  variations  on 
Tenniel's  inventions  which,  form  the  .  full-page 
plates.  When  restricted  to  black-and-white,  the 
draughtsmen  meet  on  even  ground,  and  the 
younger  one  is  hopelessly  beaten  :  there  is  no 
disguising  it.  The  colour  plates,  however,  will 
ensure  a  certain  sale  for  the  book,  and,  after  all, 
it  was  presumably  produced  to  that  end. 

MONATSHEFTE  FUR  KUNSTWISSENSCHAFT.  Leip- 
zig :  Klinkhardt  and  Biermann.  M.  i6  yearly. 
This  new  periodical,  edited  by  Dr.  Georg  Bier- 
mann, has  made  a  successful  first  appearance  with 
a  double  number  for  January  and  February.  The 
contributors  include  Dr.  Bode,  with  an  article  on 
Donatello ;  Dr.  Habich,  who  has  discovered  a 
portrait  of  Burgkmair  in  a  picture  by  the  elder 
Holbein  ;  Professor  Strzygowski,  whose  article  on 
Orientalism  in  mediaeval  Italian  architecture  is 
beautifully  illustrated  ;  and  Dr.  Steinmann,  who 
writes  on  the  less  known  portraits  of  Michelangelo. 
Shorter  articles  deal  with  Ostendorfer,  Griinewald 
and  Velazquez,  while  Dr.  Pauli  traces  the  compo- 
sition of  Manet's  Dejcmicr  snr  I'herbe  to  an  unex- 
pected source,  an  engraving  by  Marcantonio  ;  the 
juxtaposition  of  the  two  designs  is  both  convinc- 
ing and  amusing  in  the  extreme.  Correspondence 
from  the  chief  cities  of  Europe,  reviews  and  notes 
of  interest  to  collectors,  which  form  the  remaining 
sections  of  the  magazine,  are  intelligently  written 
and  arranged.  The  carefully  classified  biblio- 
graphy mentions  articles  in  the  '  Saturday  Review,' 
besides  other  weekly  and  even  daily  journals.  If 
the  standard  achieved  by  the  first  number  can  be 
maintained,  the  '  Monatshefte,'  published  at  a 
moderate  price  and  in  a  handy  size,  should  be 
assured  of  success  in  Germany  and  elsewhere. 
Contributions  will  appear  in  English,  French  and 
Italian,  though  in  the  first  number  the  only  article 
by  a  foreign  contributor  has  been  written  in 
German.  C.  D. 

The  Bibliophile.    A  magazine  and  review  for 
the   collector,   student    and    general    reader. 
Vol.  I,  No.  I.     March,  1908.     Thanet  House, 
Strand.     6d.  net. 
The  promoters  of  this  new  magazine  have  inter- 
preted the  word  '  bibliophile  '  in  its  widest  sense. 
There  is  a  tacitly  acknowledged  difference  between 
the  Greek  and  the  English  form  of  the  expression, 
and  this  first  number  is  adapted  to  appeal  rather 
to  the  latter  class — to  the  '  book-loving '  general 

48 


reader  than  to  the  bibliophile  proper.  Mr,  A.  W. 
Pollard  stands  pre-eminent  among  the  contributors 
as  at  once  a  bibliophile  and  a  bibliographer,  and 
in  the  article  on  '  Early  Book  Advertisements '  he 
gives  a  delightful  taste  of  his  stores  of  out-of-the- 
way  learning.  Mr.  Samuel  Clegg  writes  well  on 
Thomas  Hollis,  and  among  other  good  things  is 
Dr.  Peachey's  note  on  history  in  book-plates.  The 
inclusion  of  such  names  as  G.  K.  Chesterton  and 
Arthur  Hayden  will,  no  doubt,  promote  a  healthy 
circulation.  The  magazine  is  well  printed,  and 
includes  among  the  illustrations  four  good  colour- 
plates. 

F£DfiRATI0N   ARCH£0L0GIQUE    ET    HiSTORIQUE 
DE  BeLGIQUE:  ANNALESDU  XX''  CONGRES. 
(Gand,    1907.)     Publiees  par  Paul  Bergmans, 
secretaire  general  du  Congres.   2  vols.  419  and 
542  pp.  ;  18  plates  and  83  text-illustrations. 
Gand.     1906-7. 
The  last  fascicle  of  the  Annals  of  this  admirably 
organized  congress,  held  at  Ghent  August  2  to  7, 
has  lately  reached  us.     There  were  three  sections : 
the  first  devoted  to  prehistoric  and  proto-historic 
archaeology  ;  the  second  to  history  ;  and  the  third 
to   monumental   archaeology  and  the   history  of 
art.      The   memoirs   submitted   to    the   congress 
were  printed  as  soon  as  they  were  received  by  the 
secretary,    and   circulated   among    the   members, 
giving  them  ample  time  to  prepare  whatever  obser- 
vations they  might  wish  to  make  to  the  assembly. 
These   memoirs,  classed   and  reprinted,  form  the 
second   volume   of   the   Annals  of   the  twentieth 
congress  issued  on  the  opening  day,  while  in  the 
first,  now  published,  will  be  found  a  full  report  of 
the  proceedings  and  discussions. 

In  the  third  section  considerable  attention  was 
given  to  domestic  architecture,  and  an  immense 
collection  was  exhibited  of  elevations  and  photo- 
graphs, and  of  some  plans  illustrating  examples 
remaining  in  each  of  the  provinces  of  Belgium ; 
incidentally  the  origin  of  stepped  gables,  so  often 
spoken  of  as  Flemish,  was  discussed  ;  many 
examples  were  cited  not  only  in  Belgium,  but  in 
Germany,  France,  Switzerland  and  Scotland, 
ranging  from  the  twelfth  century  onwards.  It 
was  clearly  demonstrated  that  the  adoption  of 
stepped  gables  and  of  crenelated  house-fronts  was 
the  natural  and  logical  outcome  of  the  employ- 
ment of  brick,  or,  as  in  Scotland  and  at  Tournay,  of 
rag  stone,  these  not  being  suitable  for  a  continuous 
slope.  There  was  also  some  discussion  on  certain 
points  relating  to  the  history  and  works  of  the 
Van  Eycks,  and  M.  Hulin  pointed  out  that  the 
lighting  in  two  contrary  directions  in  some  of 
their  works  was  due,  not  to  these  having  been 
executed  by  two  persons,  but  to  the  backgrounds 
having  been  painted  from  studies  of  landscapes 
made  in  the  open  air  and  the  figures  from  models 
in  the  studio. 


Miscellaneous 


Another  point  discussed  was  whether  buildings 
were,  as  a  rule,  designed  and  carried  out  by  the 
same  individual.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in 
Belgium,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
buildings  were  sometimes  designed  by  painters,  a 
practice  which,  unfortunately,  became  pretty 
general  in  the  sixteenth,  and  led  to  the  erection 
of  such  architectural  monstrosities  as  the  palace 
of  the  prince  bishop  of  Liege.  In  stating  that  the 
Bruges  painter,  James  Coene,  was  summoned  from 
Paris  to  Milan  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century 
to  make  designs  for  the  entire  cathedral  from  the 
foundations  upwards,  that  generally  very  exact 
critic,  M.  Hulin,  was  evidently  misled  by  the  asser- 
tions of  the  late  M.  H.  Bouchot.  Had  he  examined 
the  original  documents,  he  would  have  seen  that 
Coene  was  merely  employed  to  make  drawings  of 
all  that  had  been  executed,  which  drawings  he 
began  on  the  morrow  of  his  arrival  in  August,  1399. 
{Sec  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  vu,  p.  160, 
May,  1905.) 

The  desirability  of  multiplying  the  number  of 
local  museums  was  urged  by  some  persons.  This 
is  a  common  enough  fad  with  many  people  at  the 
present  day,  especially  in  France,  where,  owing  to 
the  confiscation  of  churches,  many  paintings  and 
works  of  art  which,  if  sometimes  not  too  well  cared 
for,  were  at  all  events  seen  by  the  people  and  in 
their  proper  surroundings.  On  the  other  hand 
most  of  the  museums  in  the  smaller  towns  are 
little  better  than  warehouses  where  such  works  as 
are  relegated  to  them  are  difficult  of  access,  and, 
when  admission  is  obtained,  are  in  many  cases 
found  to  be  perishing  from  damp  and  neglect.  No 
new  museums  should  be  built  unless  sufficient  funds 
can  be  raised  to  ensure  proper  care,  and  the  ser- 
vices of  a  competent  person  to  catalogue  the  objects 
and  make  them  educationally  useful,  and  a  proper 
number  of  guardians  to  protect  them  from  injury 
and  theft.^  Belgium  is  better  off  in  this  respect, 
and  some  of  her  museums  are  admirably  arranged 
and  well  cared  for,  as  for  instance  those  of  Namur 
and  St.  Nicolas  ;  but  in  some  of  the  larger  towns, 
in  spite  of  the  wealth  of  many  of  the  inhabitants, 
there  is  a  sad  lack  of  dignified  feeling  which 
ought  long  ere  this  to  have  secured  the  erec- 
tion of  a  suitable  building.  A  paper  by  Canon 
Van  der  Gheyn  as  to  the  loan  of  works  of  art  by 
public  museums  to  temporary  exhibitions  gave  rise 
to  an  interesting  discussion  and  to  the  adoption  of 
a  motion  that  no  work  of  any  importance  belong- 
ing to  a  public  institution  should  be  lent  except 
when  the  object  of  the  exhibition  is  to  aid  the 
solution  of  some  archaeological  or  artistic  problem, 
and  even  then  only  if  a  proper  building  is  provided 
with  a  suitable  staff  of  guardians.    There  have  of 

'  Even  the  paintings  in  the  Louvre  are  neither  well  cared  for 
nor  properly  protected,  and  the  catalogue  o£  those  by  the  Old 
Masters  is  one  of  the  dearest  and  least  well  edited  of  any  of  the 
principal  collections  in  Europe. 


late  years  been  too  many  exhibitions  the  main 
object  of  which  has  been  the  attraction  of  a  number 
of  visitors.  The  recent  exhibition  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  may  be  cited  as  an  example  :  valuable 
paintings  were  borrowed  from  museums  as  far 
away  as  St.  Petersburg  and  Madrid  which  had  no 
connexion  with  the  Order,  whilst  many  of  less 
iinportance  as  works  of  art  which  would  have 
helped  to  illustrate  the  history  of  the  Order  might 
have  been  and  were  not  obtained.  Several  other 
papers  of  interest,  including  one  on  Hugh  Van  der 
Goes  and  another  on  the  domestic  architecture  of 
Bruges,  will  repay  perusal. 

W.  H.  James  Weale. 


SMALL  BOOKS,  PAMPHLETS  AND 
CATALOGUES 

Professor  Lethaby  has  just  published,  through 
Messrs.  Batsford  (2s.  net),  the  first  of  a  series  of 
studies  of  Greek   buildings  represented    by  frag- 
ments in  the  British  Museum.     It  deals  with  the 
temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  and  makes  out  a  good 
case  for  a  structure  differing  essentially  from  that 
formerly  proposed  by  Dr.  Murray.     '  Murillo,'  by 
Albert    F.  Calvert,  is   the  latest   addition  to   the 
Langham  Series  of  Art  Monographs  (Siegle,  Hill 
and  Co.,  cloth   is.  6d.  net,  leather  2s.  6d.  net). 
'The  Sanity  of  Art '  (New  Age  Press,  is.  net)  is  a 
reprint  of  a  reply,  written  by  Mr.  G.  Bernard  Shaw 
some  years  ago,  to  Dr.  Nordau's  '  Degeneration.' 
While  ostensibly  beating   the  bones  of  a  buried 
reputation,  it  does  so  with  so  much  science  and 
vigour  as  to  remain  a  sound  and  stimulating  piece 
of  criticism.     The  '  Bulletin  of  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  New  York'  and  the  '  Boston  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts '  are  as  usual  well  written  and  well  illus- 
trated.    The  chief  articles  in  the  former  deal  with 
Greece   and    Crete,  in   the   latter   with   Japanese 
colour-prints.     The  catalogue  of  the  John  Gooch 
collection  of  Old  Masters  of  the  Dutch,  Flemish, 
Spanish,  Italian  and  French  schools   (Paiba  and 
Paiba,  is.  6d.),  which  will  be  sold  early  in  May, 
with  that  of  the  Municipal  Gallery  of  Modern  Art 
at   Dublin  (Dollard,  is.),  and  the  Report  of  the 
Board  of  Education  on  the  National  Competition 
for    1907    (3s.),  are   the   three    largest   illustrated 
catalogues  we  have  received.     The  reproductions 
of  the  Dublin  pictures   deserve  a  special  word  of 
praise.    Four  good  catalogues  of  Mr.  Karl  Hierse- 
mann,  of  Leipzig,  must  also  be  noticed  :  Oriental 
Art  (No.  343),   including  a  number  of  Japanese 
colour-prints ;  Antique  Art  (No.  344)  ;  Architec- 
ture (No.  345)  ;  Costumes  and  Uniforms  (No.  349). 
Messrs.  Baer,  of  P'rankfort,  send  the  latest  number 
of  their  '  Biicherfreund,'  which  contains  a  special 
illustrated  list  of  cuts  by  Jorg  Breu. 


49 


^  RECENT  ART   PUBLICATIONS*    c^ 


ART  HISTORY 
Maspero  (G.).     L'archeologie  egyptienne.     Collignon   (M.). 
L'archeologie    grecquc.     (9x6)     Paris   (Picard   &   Kaan), 

3  fr.  50  ;  bound,  4  fr.  50.  Revised  and  enlarged  t  ditions  of 
well-known  handbooks  of  the  '  Bibliothecjue  de  I'enseigne- 
ment  des  Beaux-Arts.' 

Brinton  (S.)    The  Renaissance :    its  art  and  life ;    Florence, 

1450-1550.       (13  X  10)        London     (Goupil),    10    guineas. 

Photogravures. 
RiEGL  (A).     Die  Entstehung  der  Barockkunst  in  Rom.     Aus 

seiiien   hinterlassenen    Papieren    herausgegeben   von   A. 

Burda  und  M.  Dvorak.     (10x7)    Vienna  (Schroll). 
Gnoli  (U.).     L'Arte  umbra  alia   Mosfra  di  Perugia.     (10x7) 

Bergamo  (Istituto  d'Arti  grafiche).     Illustrated. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL  ANTIQUITIES 

WiEGALL  (A.  E.  P.).  A  report  on  the  antiquities  of  lower 
Nubia  (the  first  cataract  to  the  Sudan  frontier),  and  their 
condition  in  1906-7.  {14  x  10)  Oxford  (Univ.  Press),  65  fr. 
Publication  of  the  Egyptian  Dept.  of  Antiquities.    Illustrated. 

Angeli  (D.).  Koma.  Parte  la.  Dalle  origini  al  regno  di 
Costantino.  (11x7)  Bergamo  (Istituto  d'Arti  gratiche), 
1.3.50.     128  illustrations. 

LABBfe  DE  LA  Mauvini^re  (H.).  Poiticrs  et  Angouleme,  Saint- 
Savin.  Chauvigny.  (ux8)  Paris  (Laurens),  4  fr.  '  Villes 
d'Art  Celebres  '  series.     113  illustrations. 

Keymond(M.).     Grenoble  etVienne.    (11x8)    Paris  (Laurens), 

4  fr.     Illustrated. 

ViTRY  (P.)  and  BriIcre  (G.).      L'^glise  abbatiale  de  Saint-Denis 

et  ses  tombeaux,  notice  historique  et  archeologique.    (7x5) 

Paris  (Longuet),  2  fr.  50.     18  phototypes,  plans,  etc. 
Martin  (J.  B.).     Histoire  des   eglises  et  chapelles  de  Lyon. 

Tome  I.     (13x10)     Lyons  (Ladrauchet).     Illustrated. 
Godfrey  (J.  T.)     Notes  on  the  churches  of  Nottinghamshire. 

Hundred    of    Bingham.     (10x6)     London    (Phillimore). 

Illustrated. 
BIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS  AND  MONOGRAPHS 
LoNDl    (E.).      Alesso    B.aldovinetti,    pittore     fiorentino,    con. 

I'aggiunfa  dei  s>uoi  ricordi.     (10x7)     Florence  (Alfani  & 

Venturi),  I.  4.     Illustrated. 
Zottmann  (L.).     Zur  Kunst  der  Bassani.     (12x8)     Strasburg 

(Heitz),  10  m.    26  plates. 
GoFriN  (A).  Thiery  Bouts.   (9x6)  Brussels  (Van  Oest),  3  fr.  50 

Illustrated. 
Frey  (K.).     Michelagniolo  Buonarroti.    Sein  Leben  und  seine 

Werke.    Vol.1.    (10x8)    Berlin  (Curtius).    With  a  volume 

of  documents,  etc.     Phototypes. 
HoRNE  (H.  P.)    Alessandro  Filipepi,  commonly  called  Sandro 

Botticelli,   painter  of    Florence.     (15x10)   London   (Bell), 

10  guineas.     Photogravures. 
Dayot  (A.).    J.  B.  Simeon  Chardin.     Avec  un  catalogue  com- 

plet  de  Iceuvre  du  niailre  par  J.  Guiffrey.     (15x12)     Paris 

Piazza,  200  fr.     Photogravures. 
Klossowski  (E.).    Honore  Daumier.    (11x8)    Munich  (Piper), 

30  m.     90  plates. 
Hymans  (H).     Les  van  Eyck.      (9x6)     Paris  (Laurens),  2  fr. 

50.     'Les  Grands  Artistes.'    24  illustrations. 
Mayr  (J.).     Wilhelm  Leibl  :    sein  Leben  und  sein   Schaffen. 

(11x8)     Berlin  (Cassirer),  18  m.     Illustrated. 
Klaiber  (H.).     Leonardostudien.     (12x8)     Strasburg  (Heitz), 

6  m. 
ToESCA  (P.).     Masolino  da  Panicale.     (10x7)     Bergamo  (Isti- 
tuto ital.  d'arti  grafiche),  1.  7.     Illustrated. 
De    Bosschere    (J.).     Quinten     Metsys.     (9x6)     Brussels  (v. 

Oest),  3  fr.  50.     Illustrated. 
Mayer  (A.  L.). "  Jusepe  de  Ribera,    (Lo  Spagnoletto).    (10x7) 

Leipzig  (Hiersemann),  24  m.      43  phototypes. 
Knapp  (F.).     Andrea  del  Sarto.     (11x7)     Leipzig  (Knackfuss), 

4ni.     122  illustrations. 
Collignon  (M.).     Scopas  et  Praxitele,  la  sculpture  grecque  au 

IVe   siccle  jusqu' au   temps   d'Alexandre.     (9x6).     Paris 

(Plon),  3  fr.  50.     Illustrated. 

ARCHITECTURE 
Lethaby  (W.  R.).  Greek  buildings  represented  by  fragments 
in  the  British  Museum.  I— Diana's  Temple  at  Ephesus. 
(10x6)  London  (Batsford).  2s.  Illustrated. 
Beschrijving  van  de  Grafelijke  Zalen  op  het  Binnenhof  te 
's  Gravenhage.  (14x11)  Hague  (Mouton),  18  fl.  Illus- 
trated. 

•  Sizes  (height  x  width)  in  inches. 


BEYLife  (General  L.  de).  Prome  et  Samara.  Voyage  archeo 
logique  en  Birmanie  et  en  Mesopotomie.  (11x8)  Paris 
(Leroux),  7  fr.  50.  Vol.  I  of  the  publications  of  the  Societe 
fran9aise  des  fouilles  archeologiques. 
Arnott  (J.  A.)  and  Wilson  (J.).  The  Petit  Trianon,  Versailles. 
(19x15)  London  (Batsford),  3  pts..  each  21s.  net,  sub- 
scription price.  Illustrated  with  measured  drawings  and 
photographs,  including  the  furniture,  metalwork,  etc. 
Baum  (J.).     Die  Bauwerke  des  Elias  Holl.     (10x7)     Strasburg 

(Heitz),  10 m.     33  plates. 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  Topographical  index  to  measured 
drawings  of  architecture  which  have  appeated  in  the  prin- 
cipal  British  architectural   pubbc.ations.     (9x6)     London 
(Wyraan),  ijd. 

PAINTING 
Pictures   in  the  collection  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  at  Prince's 
Gate  and  Dover  House,  London.     With  an  introduction  by 
T.  Humphrey  Ward  and  biographical  and  descriptive  notes 
by  W.    Kober;s.      3    vols.      (22  x  17)      London  (privately 
printed).     Photogravure  plates. 
Farrer  (Rev.  E.).     Portraits  in  Suffolk  houses  (West).    (11x9) 
London   (Quaritch).      25s.   net ;    50s.    net,    large    paper. 
Illustrated. 
Martin  (W.).     Galerie  Gustav  Rittcr  Hoschek  von  Miihlheim 
in  Prag.    (8x5)    Prague  (Dr.  Melnik,  Grubengasse,  nr.  5). 
59  plates. 
Konstantinowa  (A.).     Die  Entwickelung  des  Madonnentypus 
bei  Leonardo  da  Vinci.     (12x8)    Strasburg  (Heitz),  6  m. 
10  plates. 
Temple  (A.  G.).     Modern  Spanish  painting,  being  a  review  of 
some  of  the  chief  painters  and  paintings  of  the  Spanish 
school  since  the  time  of  Goya.     (11x9)     London  (Fair- 
bairn),  5  guineas  net.     59  photogravures. 
Phythian  (J.  E.).     Fifty  years  of  modern  painting:  Corot  to 
Sargent.      (8x6)     London    (Grant     Richards),     los.    6d. 
net.     Illustrated. 
HopPNER   (J.,   R.A.).     Essays  on  art.    Edited,   and   with   an 
introduction   by    F.   Rutter.     (7x4)    London    (Griffiths), 
2S.  6d. 

SCULPTURE 
EsPfeRANDlEU  (E.).     Recueil  general  des  bas-reliefs  de  la  Gaule 
romaine.      Vol.    I  :    Alpes    Maritimes,   Alpes   Cottiennes, 
Corse,  Narbonnaise.    (11x9)    I'ar's  (  Ministere  de  I'lnstruc- 
tion  Publique),  40  fr.     Illust'-ated. 
Nebbia   (L.).     La  scultura   nel   duomo   di   Milano.     (14x10) 
Milan  (Hoepli),  1.  85.    Official  publication  of  the  '  Fabbrica 
del  Duomo.'     384  photfitypes. 
Serrano  Fatigati   (E.).     Port.adas  artisticas  de  monumentos 
espanoles  desde  el  siglo  xiii.  hasla  nuestros  dias  (11x7). 
Madrid  (Hauser  &  Menet),  20  pesetas.     Illustrated. 
Dieulafoy    (M.).      La    statuaire     polychrome    en    Espagne. 
(14x10)      Paris   (Hachette),   100  fr.     83  phototypes,  3  in 
colour. 

ILLUMINATED  MSS. 
Uspensky  (T.).     L'Octateuque  de  la  BibliothSque  du  Serail  a 
Constantinople.     (12x9)    Leipzig  (Harrassowitz).     Text  in 
Russian  ;  with  phototype  plates  in  atlas. 
CoCKERELL  (S.  C).     The  Gorleston  Psalter.     A  manuscript  of 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  library  of 
C.  W.    Dyson   Perrins.     London   (Quaritch),  73s.6d.net. 
21  plates. 
Thompson  (H.  Y.).     Illustrations  of  one  hundred  manuscripts 
in  the  library  of  H.  Yates  Thompson.     Vol.  I,  containing 
48  plates  illustrating  ten  French  MSS.,  eleventh-sixteenth 
centuries.     (14x10)     London  (Chiswick  Press),  42s.  net. 
DoREZ  (L.).     Les  manuscrits  a  miniatures  dela  bibliotheque  de 
Lord  Leicester  a  Holkhain  Hall,   Norfolk.     Choix  de  minia- 
tures et  de  reliures.     (18x13)     Paris  (Leroux),  125  fr.  60 

Delisle(L.).  Recherches  sur  la  librairie  de  Charles  V.  Two 
vols.  (10x6)  Paris  (Champion),  30  fr.  Vol.  "con- 
tains the  inventories  of  Charles  V,  Charles  VI  and  John, 
duke  of  Berry.    With  portfolio  of  26  phototypes  (15  x  11). 

DURRIEU  (P.).  Les  Antiquites  Jud.aiques  et  le  peintre  Jean 
Foucquet.     (16x13)     Paris  (Plon),  60 fr.     27  plates. 

DRAWINGS 
Lindner  (A.).     Handzeichnungen  alter  Meister  im  Besitze  des 
Museum   Wallraf-Kich.artz  zu   Koln  am   Rhein.     (15x12) 
Cologne  (Abels),  20  m.    25  phototype  plates, 


5° 


Recent  Art  Publications 


Moreau-Nelaton  (E.).  Le  portrait  a  la  cour  des  Valois. 
Crayons  franfais  du  XVIe  siecle  conserves  au  Musee 
Conde  a  Chantilly.  5  vols.  (17  x  12)  Paris  (Lib.  centrale 
des  Beaux-Arts).  Vol.  I  text,  and  4  portfolios  of  mounted 
phototypes. 

ENGRAVING 

WUSTMANN  (G.).  Der  Leipziger  Kupferstich  im  16,  17  und 
18  Jahrhunderts.  (10x6)  Leipzig  (Hirschfeld).  Forms 
Part  III  of  the  Neujahrsbliitter  of  the  Leipzig  civic  library 
and  archives,     i  plate. 

Lehrs  (M.).  Karl  Stauffer-Bern,  1857-1891,  ein  Verzeichnis 
seiner  Radierungen  und  Stictie.  Mit  dem  Manuscript  zu 
einem  '  Traktat  der  Radierung'  aus  dem  Nachlas  des 
Kunstlers.    Dresden  (Arnold),  40  m.     12  plates. 


GOLDSMITHS'  WORK 
Vernier   (E.).      La    bijouterie  et    la   joaillerie    egyptiennes. 

(14x11)     Cairo  (Institut  frani;ais  d'arch^ologie  orientale), 

45  fr.     25  plates,  and  200  text  illustrations. 
Ball  (T.  S.).      Church  plate  of  the  City  of  Chester.      London 

(Sherratt  &  Hughes),  los.  6d.  net.     12  plates. 
Jones  (E.  A.).     The  old  silver  sacramental  vessels  of  foreign 

Protestant  churches  in  England.    (12x10)    London  (Dent), 

21S.  net.    22  plates. 

CERAMICS 
Crisp  (F.  A.).  Catalogue  of  Lowestoft  china.  (13  x  10)  Privately 
printed   (Grove  Park   Press,  270  Walworth    Road,  S.E.), 
21S.     14  chromo  plates  and  i  photogravure. 


;A^  ART  IN  FRANCE  cK, 


HE  exhibition  season  is  now 
almost  at  its  height.  The 
'Ind^pendants'  opened  their 
salon  in  the  Cours-la-Reine 
on  March  21st,  too  late  for 
any  notice  of  it  here  this 
month  ;  it  will  remain  open 
until  the  end  of  April.  The 
New  Salon  will  open  its  doors 
as  usual  on  April  15th  and  the  Old  Salon  on  May 
1st.  An  exhibition  of  an  unusual  character,  which 
promises  to  be  interesting,  is  announced  for  the 
beginning  of  April  at  the  Mus6e  des  Arts  D^coratifs, 
but  its  opening  is  not  likely  to  take  place  before 
the  middle  of  the  month.  This  is  the  retrospective 
theatrical  exhibition,  which  will  include  everything 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  theatre — models 
and  designs  of  scenery,  reproductions  on  a  reduced 
scale  of  theatrical  machinery,  theatrical  costumes 
and  other  accessories,  etc.  Puppet-shows  and  the 
theatre  of  the  marionette  will  have  their  section  of 
the  exhibition.  The  exhibits  of  the  greatest  interest 
from  a  purely  artistic  point  of  view  will  be  the 
pictures  and  sculptures  relating  to  the  history  of 
the  theatre  and  the  portraits  of  famous  plajrwrights, 
theatrical  decorators,  actors  and  actresses.  I  hope 
to  give  some  account  of  the  exhibition  in  a  future 
number  of  The  Burlington  Magazine.  The 
exhibition,  which  has  been  organized  by  the  Union 
Centrale  des  Arts  Decoratifs,  will  remain  open 
until  the  end  of  September  so  that  summer  visitors 
to  Paris  may  have  the  opportunity  of  visiting  it. 

The  Lyceum  Club,  which  has  lately  established 
itself  in  Paris,  celebrated  the  formal  opening  of  its 
house  in  the  Rue  de  la  Bienfaisance  by  an  inter- 
esting exhibition  of  pictures  by  deceased  women 
artists.  Madame  Vigee-Lebrun  was  represented  by 
eleven  pictures,  most  of  them  representative. 
Perhaps  the  finest  was  the  portrait  of  Yolande  de 
Polastron,  duchesse  de  Polignac,  lent  by  the  due 
de  Polignac.  The  portrait  of  Le  Bailly  de  Crussol, 
from  the  collection  of  the  due  d'Uzes,  was  another 
picture  of  high  quality.  The  due  de  Rohan  lent 
the  well-known  portrait  of  Madame  Dubarry  in 
his  possession.  Two  pictures  of  still-life  by 
Madame  Vallayer-Coster,  a  pupil  of  Chardin,  were 


among  the  most  interesting  in  the  exhibition.  This 
excellent  eighteenth-century  artist  is  less  well- 
known  than  she  deserves  to  be — perhaps  because 
her  pictures  get  labelled  with  the  greater  name  of 
her  master ;  one  of  the  pictures  exhibited  belongs 
to  the  well-known  painter,  M.  Albert  Besnard. 
There  were  two  pictures  by  Judith  Leyster,  an 
interior  of  good  quality,  and  a  portrait  of  a  man 
which  was  as  fine  an  example  of  her  work  as  could 
be  found.  Of  the  more  recent  artists  represented 
perhaps  the  most  interesting  was  Eva  Gonzales,  a 
pupil  of  ALanet,  five  of  whose  pictures  were  shown. 
The  little  society  of  painters  and  sculptors,  which 
used  to  be  called  La  Nouvelle  Societe  and  is  now 
without  a  name,  is  holding  its  annual  exhibition 
at  the  Galeries  Georges  Petit.  As  usual,  it  is  one 
of  the  best  modern  exhibitions  of  the  year ;  the 
standard  maintained  by  the  twenty-three  members 
represented  is  relatively  a  very  high  one.  On  the 
whole  M.  Jacques  Blanche  carries  off  the  honours. 
He  shows  no  less  than  fourteen  pictures  and  has 
never  appeared  to  greater  advantage ;  the  little 
picture  La  Hoiissc  dc  Chintz  is  a  fine  piece  of  paint- 
ing and  is  extraordinarily  charming,  though  it  is 
but  a  picture  of  a  sofa  in  the  corner  of  a  room.  Of 
the  more  important  works  shown  by  M.  Blanche, 
the  two,  Fenuue  devant  une  glace  (robe  grise)  and 
Jcnne  Fille  devant  line  glace  (jupe  rouge),  deserve 
special  mention  in  the  cursory  remarks  for  which 
alone  we  have  space.  The  portrait  of  Sir  Coleridge 
Kennard  must  also  be  noticed.  Altogether,  this 
exhibition  will  further  enhance  M.  Blanche's  reputa- 
tion. M.  Raoul  Ulmann,  the  young  painter  whose 
pictures  attracted  attention  in  this  exhibition  last 
year,  has  had  the  honour  of  selling  one  of  the 
pictures  which  he  is  exhibiting  to  the  State.  The 
choice  is  a  good  one,  for  the  picture — a  view  of  the 
Seine  in  a  mist  with  the  Trocadero  faintly  seen 
in  the  background — is  one  of  the  best  of  the  dozen 
that  M.  Ulmann  shows ;  it  will  go  to  the  Luxem- 
bourg. M.  Ulmann  is,  perhaps,  too  much  influenced 
by  Cazin,  but  his  work  has  both  charm  and  origin- 
ality and  is  certainly  improving  every  year.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  pictures  in  the  exhibition 
is  M.  Lucien  Sivnon's  La  Recolte  de  poininesdc  ten c, 
quite  the   best   piece    of  work   that    he    has    yet 


fArt  in  France 

produced.  M.  Gaston  la  Touche  shows  a  charming 
picture,  La  Belle  an  Boh  dormanl,  in  his  best 
manner,  and  M.  Le  Sidaner  is  as  interesting  as 
usual.  M.  Lobre's  pictures  of  the  interior  of 
Chartres  Cathedral  deserve  a  special  mention,  as 
do  the  portrait  of  Mademoiselle  de  Mornant  by 
M.  Antonio  de  La  Gandara  and  La  Plage  and 
other  pictures  of  M.  Ren6  Prinet.  M.  Besnard 
is  disappointing,  though  his  unfinished  portrait 
promises  to  be  good.  M.  Henri  Martin  is  as 
clever  and  as  disagreeable  as  usual.  Mr.  Sargent, 
by  his  Portrait  of  Lady  S.  .  .  .,  more  than  ever 
justifies  his  claim  to  be  considered  the  Lawrence 
of  our  time  ;  the  picture  is  as  brilliant  as  it  is 
superficial.  Among  the  best  work  in  the  exhibition 
is  that  of  M.  Zacharian,  an  Armenian  painter  of 
still-life  ;  one  can  see  that  M.  Zacharian  has  studied 
Chardin,  but  he  is  no  imitator,  although  his  work 
is  intensely  French.  Among  the  sculpture  is  a 
fine  bust  of  Mr.  J.  Pulitzer,  by  M.  Rodin,  the 
President  of  the  Society,  who  also  sends  a  strange 
composition  called  Le  Scnlptciir  ct  sa  muse,  quite 
unworthy  of  his  great  reputation.  The  latter  would 
more  fitly  have  been  entitled '  Le  Sculpteur  s'amuse' 
— at  the  expense  of  his  admirers.  A  bust  of  Pro- 
fessor Pozzi  by  M.  Troubetzkoi  is  an  excellent 
piece  of  work. 

There  are  and  will  be  during  the  next  two 
months  innumerable  one-man  exhibitions  in  the 
various  galleries,  many  of  which  ought  to  be 
noticed,  did  not  space  fail.  A  very  interesting  and 
much-discussed  exhibition  was  that  of  M.  Rent^ 
Seyssaud  at  the  Galeries  Bernheim.  Nothing  could 
be  in  greater  contrast  to  M.  Seyssaud's  extreme 
impressionism  than  the  water  colours  of  ^L 
Charles-Louis  Geoffroy  exhibited  at  the  Galeries 
Shirleys  ;  M.  Geoffrey  has  studied  but  does  not 
imitate  the  great  English  masters  of  water  colour, 
and  he  has  a  future.  The  work  of  M.  Henri 
Tenr6,  exhibited  at  the  Galeries  Georges  Petit, 
must  also  be  mentioned. 

The  system  of  admission  by  payment  is  at  last 
established  in  the  museums  of  the  town  of  Paris, 
the  difficulties  mentioned  last  month  having  been 
overcome.  The  result  is  that  the  museums  are 
empty  except  on  Thursdays  and  Sundays,  when 
admission  is  free,  and  they  are  so  crowded  that  it 
is  dilScult  to  move  about  or  see  anything.  In  the 
first  week  of  the  new  system  rather  more  than  500 
people  in  all  visited  the  museums  on  the  paying 
days  ;  since  then  no  figures  have  been  published, 
and  it  is  believed  that  the  numbers  are  steadily 
decreasing.  Unfortunately,  although  the  Dutuit 
collection  is  still  free,  most  visitors  to  the  Petit 
Palais  are  not  aware  of  the  fact,  as  the  separate 
entrance  to  this  collection  is  through  a  small  door 
at  the  side  which  is  scarcely  visible.  This  collec- 
tion has,  therefore,  suffered  like  the  others.  It  is 
generally  believed  that  this  foolish  experiment  will 
be  short-lived  ;  the  opinion  of  those  responsible 

52 


for  the  management  of  the  museums  seems  to  be 
tiiat  the  pecuniary  results  of  the  new  system  are 
no  compensation  either  for  its  disastrous  effect  on 
the  attendance  or  for  the  additional  trouble  and 
expense  which  it  entails. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Grand  Palais, 
where  the  Salons  and  other  public  exhibitions  are 
held,  was  built  by  the  State  at  the  time  of  the 
International  Exhibition  of  1900  on  land  belong- 
ing to  the  town  of  Paris.  The  lease  of  the  land 
will  expire  at  the  end  of  this  year,  and  the  State 
has  proposed  to  buy  it ;  this,  however,  would  be 
impossible  without  a  new  law,  as  the  Champs- 
Elysees  were  given  to  the  town  by  Charles  X  in 
1828,  under  a  law  which  enacted  that  they  should 
never  be  alienated.  The  Municipal  Council  intends, 
it  is  said,  to  propose  to  the  State  that  it  shall  take 
over  the  Grand  Palais,  power  being  reserved  to 
the  State  to  hold  there  those  exhibitions  for  which 
it  is  responsible.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  the 
State  will  prefer  to  renew  the  lease  of  the  land. 

The  State  museums  have  lately  made  some 
interesting  acquisitions.  The  Louvre  has  acquired 
for  the  very  moderate  price  of  25,000  francs  an 
extremely  fine  picture  by  El  Greco,  which  has  not 
yet  been  hung  in  the  galleries  but  which  I  have 
had  the  opportunity  of  seeing.  The  picture,  which 
measures  8  ft.  8  in.  by  5  ft.  8  in.,  represents  Christ 
on  the  cross  against  a  background  of  the  extra- 
ordinary thunder-clouds  that  Greco  loved  ;  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross  on  either  side  are  the  half-length 
portraits  of  the  donors,  Diego  and  Antonio 
Covarrubias,  sons  of  the  celebrated  architect  of 
Charles  V.  Diego,  who  was  a  priest,  is  represented 
in  a  surplice  or  rochet,  his  brother  in  the  dress  of 
a  gentleman  of  the  period.  The  picture  was 
painted  for  an  altar  in  the  church  of  the  nuns  of 
the  Visitation  at  Toledo,  where  it  remained  until 
1835,  when,  on  the  suppression  of  the  religious 
orders  in  Spain,  it  passed  into  private  hands.  Later 
it  became  the  property  of  the  late  M.  Isaac  Pereire 
of  Prades  (Pyr6nees-0rien tales)  who,  in  1869, 
being  at  that  time  a  candidate  for  the  representation 
of  the  arrondisscment  in  the  Chamber,  offered  the 
picture  to  the  parish  church  of  Prades.  The  offer 
was  refused  and  M.  Pereire  presented  the  picture 
to  the  local  Palais  de  Justice ;  in  1904  it  was 
removed  to  the  Mairie  in  consequence  of  the 
decision  to  remove  religious  emblems  from  the  law 
courts,  and  M.  Leprieur  has  acquired  it  from  the 
Mayor  and  Municipal  Council.  M.  Paul  Laforce 
points  out  in  the  '  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts  '  that  the 
picture  must  have  been  painted  before  1577,  in 
which  year  Diego  Covarrubias  died,  and  probably 
dates  from  a  time  very  shortly  after  Greco's 
arrival  at  Toledo  and  a  few  years  before  he  painted 
the  famous  Burial  of  the  Count  D'Orgaz,  in  which 
also  there  is  a  portrait  of  Antonio  Covarrubias. 
The  picture  is  a  great  and  majestic  work  of  art, 
worthy  alike  of  its  painter  and  of  the  Louvre  ;  the 


Art  in  France 


Christ  IS  a  noble  and  beautifuj  figure,  and  the 
portraits  are  intensely  real. 

M.  de  Nolhac  has  made  a  most  interesting  and 
valuable  acquisition  for  the  palace  of  Versailles, 
a  portrait  of  Camille  and  Lucille  Desmoulins  with 
their  infant  child.  At  present  no  attribution  has 
been  found  for  the  picture,  which  has  consider- 
able artistic  qualities  in  addition  to  its  historical 
interest  and  seems  to  have  been  painted  about 
1793.  It  will  be  placed  in  the  rooms  devoted  to 
the  Revolution.  M.  Henry  Marcel's  annual  report 
in  regard  to  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  mentions 
several  important  acquisitions  in  addition  to  the 
bequest  of  M.  Audeoud  mentioned  some  months 
ago.  Among  them  are  a  copy  of  the  Hemes  de 
Rome,  of  Simon  de  Collines  (1543),  of  which  there 
is  only  one  other  known  example  in  France,  and 
that  incomplete,  and  also  some  interesting  manu- 
scripts. The  departments  of  prints  and  medals 
have  also  received  valuable  additions. 

The  sales  continue  to  be  rather  unimportant. 
The   only  one  of  any   special  interest  since   last 


month  has  been  that  of  the  collection  (mostly  of 
modern  pictures)  of  the  late  M.  Jules  Cronier. 
The  highest  price  of  the  sale  was  that  of  39,100 
frs.  for  the  Pecheiir  amarre  a  la  rive  of  Corot. 
Three  pictures  by  Harpignies  fetched  the  high 
price  of  20,000  frs.  apiece,  and  other  pictures  by 
this  artist  sold  well.  The  prices  of  the  pictures  by 
Ziem  were  lower  than  they  have  been  hitherto  ; 
a  good  one,  Le  Port  de  Marseille,  fetched  only 
16,800  frs.,  and  the  others  lower  prices — but  none 
of  theZiems  were  of  the  first  quality.  The  Bergere 
gardaiit  ses  moiitons  of  Charles  Jacque  sold  for 
30,000  frs.,  a  very  high  price  for  this  artist,  but  it 
was  a  specially  fine  example  of  his  work,  and  the 
other  pictures  by  him  went  for  much  smaller  sums. 
The  pictures  by  Jongkind  sold  very  well,  at  prices 
ranging  from  2,450  to  6,400  frs.  There  were 
several  pictures  by  A.  L.  Bouchd:,  which  were 
much  more  contested  than  has  ever  been  the 
case  with  his  work  before.  One  went  up  to  2,600 
frs.  In  all  cases  ten  per  cent,  has  to  be  added  to 
the  prices  mentioned.  R.  E.  D. 


cA^  ART  IN  GERMANY,  AUSTRIA  AND  SWITZERLAND  a^ 


of 


English 


HE  tremendous  success 
the  exhibition  of 
eighteenth  century  art  at  Berlin 
was  of  course  due  in  part  to 
the  fact  that  it  was  a  society 
function.  Every  one  con- 
nected with  the  Imperial 
court  of  necessity  helped 
towards  making  this  show,  instituted  in  honour  of 
the  Emperor,  a  signal  success.  For  a  time  at  least 
the  academy  which  housed  the  collection  was 
guarded  by  regular  sentinels,  just  as  if  the  'guests' 
of  his  Majesty  had  been  living  crowned  heads, 
instead  of  painted  pictures. 

Even  London  has  seldom — if  ever  during  the 
last  fifty  years — seen  such  a  collection  of  work 
united  in  one  place.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  imagine 
that  the  show  amounted  to  a  Wallace  Collection, 
enlarged.  There  was  perhaps  as  much  fine,  first- 
class  work  to  be  seen  here  as  the  Wallace  Collection 
contains,  and  slightly  more.  About  one-half  of 
the  paintings,  however,  were  not  quite  of  the  first 
order,  and  the  canvases  which  modern  collectors 
have  been  able  to  buy  during  the  past  era,  fine 
enough  as  they  are,  are  not  the  equal  of  those 
portraits  which  the  descendants  of  the  famous 
houses  of  nobility  still  possess  as  heirlooms. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  air  of  distinguished 
respectability,  when  in  evidence  to  such  an  extent 
as  upon  the  walls  of  this  show,  grew  to  be  just  a 
trifle  oppressive.  Raeburn  alone  introduced  some 
erratic,  lively  and  amusing  tones  into  this  long 
sustained  harmony  of  reserve  and  propriety.  His 
strong  card  of  imstrained  naturalness  in  pose  and 
unconventional  coloration  was  particularly  effec- 


tive here,  where  beauty  seemed  to  be  just  a 
little  linked  with  monotony. 

The  large  full-length  representative  portraits  did 
not  please  the  beholder  the  more  he  saw  of  them, 
and  I  believe  the  reason  for  this  is  not  difficult  to 
find.  They  all  represent  a  special  effort  and  are, 
in  consequence,  all  just  a  bit  forced.  Besides,  the 
almost  chameleon-like  brown  and  green-golden 
tones  of  the  landscapes  often  serve  as  a  very 
imperfect  foil  to  the  colour-composition  of  the 
main  figure  or  group.  Even  so  admirable  a  portrait 
group  as  Lady  Betty  Deliiie  with  her  Two  Children 
is  badly  set  off  on  this  background  :  the  fine 
Valentine  Green  mezzotint  of  the  picture  awakens 
expectations  that  the  original  does  not  quite  fulfil. 

This  is  generally  the  case  with  the  mezzotints 
after  the  large,  full-length  portraits  of  ladies  or 
groups,  standing  in  landscapes. 

The  case  is  entirely  different  with  the  smaller 
half-lengths.  Here  the  background  scarcely  ever 
consists  of  a  park  or  landscape,  whose  variety  of 
tones  presents  a  kaleidoscopic  sea  upon  which  the 
colours  of  the  portrait  itself  seem  as  it  were  to 
dissolve  :  on  the  contrary,  the  background  is  some 
simple,  succinct  tone,  the  grey  of  a  stormy  skj',  the 
full,  vivid  red  of  a  plush  curtain,  or  something 
similar,'  which  sets  off  the  colour-composition  of 
the  main  figure  to  best  advantage. 

Finally,  the  brush-work  of  these  masters  was 
closely  adapted  to  the  bust  or  half-length  portrait. 
It  was  interesting,  at  times  even  bewitching,  when 
applied  to  work  on  this  scale.  But  they  did  not 
alter  it,  when  they  worked  upon  the  huge  canvases: 
consequently  a  face,  when  it  looms  up  there  a 
couple  of  yards  above  us,  appears  too  delicately^ 


SI, 


Art  in  Germany 


softly  handled.  The  energy  of  the  small  work  has 
not  been  properly  transplanted  into  the  larger 
dimensions. 

The  Berlin  'connoisseur'  has  been  somewhat 
perplexed  by  this  wonderful  exhibition.  He  cannot 
help  being  impressed,  and  yet  it  is  by  work  so 
totally  different  from  that  which  he  has  been 
slowly  and  indomitably  trained  to  appreciate. 
There  have  been  forces  at  work  for  years  to 
educate  the  '  higher '  Berlin  public  up  to  Manet, 
Monet,  Renoir,  Sisley,  to  Israels  and  Liebermann. 
Bright  coloration  and  the  refusal  of  everything 
that  smacks  in  the  very  least  of  '  composition ' 
and  selection  are  the  '  connoisseur's  '  standbys,  and 
his  battle-cry  is  :  Look  forward  1  never  backward  I 

But  here  we  have  an  art  of  tradition  :  a  retro- 
spective art  which  has,  at  bottom,  sought  its 
inspirations  in  the  Titianesque  schools  of  the 
Renaissance ;  which  is  brown  and  luscious,  not 
grey,  or  silvery,  or  white.  Yet  it  seems  first-class 
art — and  so  the  Berlin  public  is  decidedly  troubled, 
as  every  one  naturally  would  be,  who  has  gradually 
forgotten  that  there  are  more  gods  than  one  in 
Olympus. 

The  quite  untutored,  however,  came  there  simply 
to  enjoy  what  they  saw,  and  they  enjoyed  with  a 
vengeance,  without  any  misgivmgs. 

A  list  of  the  principal  contributors  to  the 
exhibition  has  already  been  given  in  a  former 
issue.  The  continental  contributions,  with  but 
two  or  three  exceptions,  were  not  first-class.  It 
may  be  of  interest  as  a  record  to  note  the  principal 
pictures  exhibited. 

The  Bine  Boy  (Duke  of  Westminster)  heads  the 
list  of  the  large  Gainsboroughs.  Viscountess 
Ligonicr  (Ch.  Wertheimer)  and  Anne  Dnnconibe 
(do.)  were  excellent,  but  Jnlia  Lady  Petie  (do.). 
Viscount  Ligonicr  (do.)  and  General  Honeyivood 
(Messrs.  Agnew)  already  somewhat  less  attractive. 
None  seem  quite  to  attain  to  the  charm  of  the 
small  Miss  Linley  (Ch.  Wertheimer).  The  quaint, 
Chardin-like  portrait  of  Gainsborough's  two 
daughters  (do.)  and  the  piquante  dancer  Madame 
Bacelli  (O.  Beit)  were  the  only  two  pictures  in  the 
exhibition  which  one  would  at  all  be  inclined  to 
call  rococo  art. 

The  Romneys,  although  there  was  not  a  single 
Lady  Hamilton  among  them,  were,  almost  all  of 
them,  superb.  Viscountess  Clifden  and  Lady 
Elizabeth  Spencer  ('  Beauty  and  the  Arts,'  Ch. 
Wertheimer)  is  perhaps  a  little  strained  in  the 
composition,  but  nobody  could  find  anything  but 
words  of  admiration  for  the  lovely  Mrs.  John 
Johnson  (Ch.  Wertheimer),  the  entrancing  Mrs. 
Long  (Ed.  Simon),  the  Mrs.  Buchanan  (A.  V. 
Goldschmidt-Rothschild),  the  fine  Lady  Poulett 
(A.  de  Rothschild),  that  fascinating  picture  of  a 
little  girl.  Miss  Holbeck  (Ch.  Wertheimer),  and 
Thomas  Fane  (Lord  Burton).  The  much-admired 
J.  Walter  Tempesi{k.  Wertheimer)  is  magnificently 

54 


drawn  and  conceived,  but  the  coloration  is  not 
altogether  pleasing.  It,  too,  belongs  to  the  class 
of  pictures  which  reproduce  so  well  in  black-and- 
white  that  such  a  reproduction  leads  one  to 
expect  features  which  the  original  lacks. 

The  inimitable  Duchess  of  Devonshire  with  her 
little  daughter  (,Duke  of  Devonshire)  was  alone 
worth  a  journey  to  the  exhibition.  No  other 
portrait  painter  in  the  world  has  ever  surpassed 
Reynolds  in  the  fertility  with  which  he  invented 
captivating  and  unrestrained  poses,  nor  in  the 
ability  in  catching  a  charming  expression  and 
making  it  appear  to  be  the  natural  one  of  the 
sitter.  This  applies  especially  to  the  picture  just 
named,  to  the  Mrs.  Payne  Gallwey  (J.  P.  Morgan) 
and  ioiheLady  Betty  DcUne{].  P.  Morgan).  Among 
the  other  superfine  Reynoldses  to  be  seen  here,  I 
should  note  the  Mrs.  Fronde  with  a  lute  (Ch. 
Wertheimer),  the  marvellous  Lady  Caroline  Price 
(Sir  Julius  Wernher),  Cupid  as  Link  Boy  (J.  P. 
Morgan),  Mrs.  J  elf  Pouys  (C.  Wertheimer),  Lady 
Stanhope  (ditto).  The  Babes  in  the  Mood  (J.  P. 
Morgan),  and  a  Corregiesque  Sketch  of  a  Girl  (Ch. 
Wertheimer). 

The  Raeburns  were  all  first-class  :  The  Elphinstone 
Children  (Ch.  Werthsimer),  Sir  William  Maxwell 
(Messrs.  Agnew),  Mrs.  Mackenzie  (ditto),  Lady 
Raeburn  (Sir  Ernest  Cassel),  and  Lady  Maitland 
(J.  P.  Morgan). 

Hoppner  could  only  with  difficulty  hold  his 
own  in  this  society,  even  with  Mrs.  Jerningham 
as  Hebe  (Ch.  Wertheimer)  and  the  Setting  Sun 
(The  Godsall  Children,  J. P.  Morgan),  and  Shee  and 
Beechey  were  scarcely  in  the  race.  Lawrence's 
Miss  Farren  (J.  P.  Morgan)  was  one  of  the  clous  of 
the  exhibition,  a  marvellous  feat  for  a  youth  to 
perform  and  a  huge  contrast  to  the  mannered  and 
insipid  Childhood's  Innocence  (Julia,  Countess  of 
Jersey,  Ch.  Wertheimer)  of  his  later  years. 

A  mere  mention  of  some  magnificent  landscapes 
by  Gainsborough  and  Constable  (Lord  Svvaythling, 
the  Royal  Academy)  must  close  this  imperfect  list. 

The  question  of  a  new  municipal  museum  for 
Frankfort-on-the-Main  has  now  been  definitely 
settled  in  the  manner  indicated  in  our  February 
issue.  The  new  museum  is  to  contain  four  depart- 
ments :  I.  Modern  paintings.  2.  The  work  of 
local  Frankfort  artists.  3.  Sculpture  ;  and  4. 
Collections  subservient  to  the  study  of  the  history 
of  art  (books,  magazines,  photographs,  casts, 
etc).  The  city  councillors  have  voted  half  a 
million  marks  to  begin  purchases  with.  The 
director  of  the  new  museum — who,  for  the  present, 
at  least,  is  to  be  identical  with  the  director  of  the 
Stiidel  Museum — has  already  brought  together  a 
noteworthy  collection  of  Gothic  and  Renaissance 
sculptures  and  car\'ings.  For  the  second  depart- 
ment the  purchase  of  a  large  number  of  works  by 
Boehle,  paintings  and  etchings,  is  contemplated. 
The    municipality   have    likewise    purchased  the 


CONSTAXCli.    BY   ALBERT   I>.    RYDEK.      IN  THE 
COLLECTIUN    OE    SIR    WILLIAM     YAN    HORNE 


ART    IX   AMERICA 
PLATE  I 


s< 


Art  in  Germany 


entire  collection  of  Graeco  -  Roman  antiquities 
formed  by  the  late  Adolf  Furtwaengler,  Professor 
of  Classical  Archaeology,  for  its  museum. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  new  Deutscher  Verein 
fiir   Kunstwissenschaft  took  place  on  March  7th, 
at   Frankfort.      The   proposed    constitution    was 
submitted  for   adoption.      It   transpired  at  once 
that  there  are  apparently  two  currents  already  in 
this  early  stage  of  the  society's  existence.     To  the 
one    belong    the    specialists     and     art-historians 
proper,   who  aim    at   furthering   the    interests  of 
their  profession  by  the  publication  of  the  so-called 
'  Monumenta  Artis   Germaniae,'    by  launching  a 
serious  magazine  and  publishing  annuals  and  a 
bibliography.     To  the  other  there  belong  the  con- 
noisseurs, art-enthusiasts   and  patrons,  who  take 
less   interest   in  the   purely  scientific   plans,    but 
rather  wish  to  direct  attention  to  the  various  pro- 
posals for  spreading  a  general  interest  and  under- 
standing  for  art.     Although   these  latter  are  the 
financial  support  of  the  new  society,  they  do  not 
seem  to  have  succeeded  in  pushing  their  claims  to 
the  fore.    One  influential  member  openly  confessed 
that  he  cared    little  for  the  '  Monumenta '  and  a 
magazine,   and  that  his  support  was  secured  on 
the  strength  of  the  proposed  general  cult  of  the 
fine  arts.     The  provisions  which  section  6  of    the 
submitted  constitution    made  for  this  cult    were 
justly  deemed  unsatisfactory  and  were  all  dropped. 
One  gentleman,  a  university  professor,  very  aptly 
remarked  that  to  introduce  the  study  of  art-history 
as  a  compulsory  feature   in  the  curriculum  of  the 
lower  schools  and  gymnasia    would  tend  rather 
to   put  fine  art    in    disfavour    with    the  growing 
generation. 

In  the  face  of  this  chaos,  a  museum  director 
suggested  that  the  real  foundation  of  the  society 
be  deferred  until  the  initiators  of  the  scheme. 
Bode  and  Althoff,  with  a  few  of  their  assistants, 
had  grappled  with  the  issues  in  question  sufficiently 
to  offer  more  definite  proposals  after  the  lapse  of  a 
year.  Something  very  like  this  plan  was  finally 
adopted.  A  dircctorinm  of  twenty-five  members 
and  a  general  committee  of  one  hundred  are  to 
be  established,  with  power  to  call  a  second  con- 
vention about  this  time  next  year,  when,  it  is  hoped, 
matters  will  have  clarified  sufficiently  to  make 
feasible  the  foundation  of  a  society  with  definite 
and  attainable  ends  in  view.  If  the  present 
meeting  gives  one  a  fair  forecast  of  what  we  may 
expect,  there  is  little  chance  of  the  society  taking 
up  the  bibliography,  or  the  annual  reports  ;  nor 
will  it  publish  a  new  magazine,  though  it  possibly 
may  support  the  '  Repertorium  '  in  such  a  way  as 
to  enable  the  publishers  to  make  of  it  a  monthly, 
purely  scientific  but  liberally  equipped. 

From  the  heirs  of  Menzel,  the  Bavarian  Govern- 
ment has  received  the  gift  of  sixty  of  the  late 
master's  works.  There  are  nine  oil  sketches  and 
half  a  dozen  small  water  colours  among  them  ;  the 


rest  is  made  up  of  drawings  and  pastels.  The 
whole  collection  will  probably  be  housed  in  the 
Munich  Print  Room,  which  institution  Menzel  is 
said  to  have  specially  favoured. 

At  the  Winter  Secession  Exhibition  the  Bavarian 
Government  purchased  four  paintings  by  Albert 
von  Keller,  An  AxuUcncc  (iSji),  Empress  Fatistina 
in  the  Temple  0}  Juno  at  Praeneste  (1881),  In  the 
Gardens  of  the   Villa    Wolkonsky  at  Rome  (1885), 
and  Ten  Time  (1886),  for  the  new  Pinakothek  at 
Munich,   which   already    contains   two   excellent 
works  by  this  master.     Revisiting  this  gallery  the 
other   day,    it   struck   me  that   the  possibility  of 
adapting  the  walls  to  the  new  acquisitions  is  by 
no    means    the    greatest    difficulty    with    which 
the   director   has    to    battle.      It   seems    scarcely 
credible  that  the  building  is  not  heated  during 
winter  time,  and,  as  far  as  I  could  make  out,  it  is 
quite  impossible  to  heat  it  at  all.     The  halls  are  as 
cold   and    damp   as   cellars.      A   Sunday   crowd, 
during  this  early  spring  season,  naturally  brings  a 
good  deal  of  warmth  with  it,  and  some  of  the 
pictures   seemed   to  reek  with   moisture.     There 
were  several — bright   day  that  it   was — glistening 
with  all  the  hues  of  the  rainbow  :  it  was  impossible 
to    find  a  point  of  view  from  which  the  whole 
painting  could  be  taken  in  at  a  glance.   There  was 
always  a  reflection  somewhere,  apparently  due  to 
the  moisture.     Possibly  some  of  the  paintings  are 
undergoing  chemical   changes,  too,  owing  to  the 
indifferent  quality  of  the  paints  employed.    There 
has  been   much    complaint  of  this  lately,   and  I 
have  referred  to  Mr.  Keim  and  his  society  for  the 
improvement  of  pigments  and  vehicles  before  now. 
The  invaluable  collections  in  the  old  Pinakothek 
are  better  cared  for  ;  this  building  is  beatable  and 
kept  at  an  average  temperature  all  the  year  round. 
It  astonished  me  to  find  in  an  institution   which 
does  not  shirk  the  responsibilities  incumbent  on 
elaborate   restoration    (the    Diirer  Adoration   and 
Baumgiirtner  altar  wings  ! )  some  pictures  sorely 
neglected.     The  wonderful    Rubens  Massacre   of 
the  Innocents  threatens  to  crack  seriously,  and  on 
the  left  hand  side  of  the  picture  there  is  a  triangle 
of  paint  and  ground  altogether  gone,  about  half 
an  inch  across.     Speaking  of  Diirer  restorations, 
by  the  way,  calls  to  mind  the  circumstance  that 
Gliick  of  Vienna  recently  maintained,  with  much 
likelihood,  that  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi  in  the 
Uffizi  has  been  repainted  along  the  left  hand  side, 
behind     the    Virgin,    where     St.     Joseph     must 
originally  have  stood.     Probably  we  shall  soon  see 
this  Diirer  too  in  its  pristine  state. 

This  year  will  again  see  an  important  art 
exhibition  at  Darmstadt.  Painters  living  in  Hesse 
or  connected  therewith  will  be  invited  to  exhibit. 
The  principal  feature,  however,  will  be  the  show 
of  applied  art.  Among  other  things  five  furnished 
labourers'  cottages  for  one  and  for  two  families  will 
be  exhibited,     l^he  former  are  to  cost,  furnishing 

57 


Art  in  Germany 


and  all,  4,500  marks  ;  the  latter,  8,000  marks — and 
the  exhibitors  are  bound  to  supply  any  subsequent 
order  for  such  a  house  at  the  prices  affixed  to  the 
objects  they  exhibit.  This  is  an  excellent,  novel 
idea.  The  cry  of  '  Art  for  the  people '  has  been 
much  abused,  and  even  such  an  artist  as  H. 
Vandevelde  has  shown  himself  utterly  unable  to 
carry  his  popularization  of  art  into  effect.  He  once 
proclaimed  that  his  aim  was  to  produce  true  art 
so  cheaply  as  simply  to  crowd  the  sham  and  taste- 
less article  out  of  the  market.  But  he  did  not 
progress  very  far  in  the  direction  of  this  goal.  His 
furniture  and  his  silver -ware  are  about  the  most 
expensive  one  can  find,  and  producing  objects 
which  only  millionaires  can  buy  does  not  seem  a 
very  effective  way  of  spreading  a  love  for  art 
among  the  lowly.  It  remains  to  be  seen  what  the 
men  at  Darmstadt  will  be  able  to  put  up  for  these 
small  sums.  The  experiment,  in  any  case,  will  be 
valuable  and  interesting. 

That  lovely  and  unique  Mecca  for  all  students 
of  historic  black-and-white,  the  Albertina  at 
Vienna,  has  a  wonderful  exhibition  of  portrait 
drawings  on  view.  Few  directors  in  the  world, 
drawing  solely  upon  the  resources  of  their  own 
establishment,  are  able  to  make  the  show  Dr. 
Meder  has  brought  together.  Beginning  with 
Gentile  Bellini,  a  Lippi  and  other  early  Italians, 
the  heads  range  via  Diirer  and  the  little  masters, 
Rubens  and  Van  Dyck,  Vaillant,  Silvestre,  Nan- 
teuil,  Watteau,  to  name  but  a  few,  down  to  the 
men  of  our  own  time,  among  whom  I  noted  an 
interesting  portrait  of  Keller  by  Bocklin,  and 
William  Strang's  colour-craj'on  drawing  of  his 
daughter  Nancy.  The  Albertina  need  not  curry 
favour  with  the  public :  the  attendance  is  as  large 
as  can  be  accommodated,  it  being  virtually  a 
private  collection.  So  there  are  only  two  or  three 
exhibitions  arranged  every  year.  But  every  one  of 
them  is  worth  travelling  miles  to  see. 

Probably  no  private  art  gallery  has  ever  before 
collected  so  fine  a  show  of  Goyas  as  those  to  be 
seen  at  present  in  the  Galerie  Miethke,  at  V'ienna, 
with  which  we  hope  to  deal  next  month. 

An  alarming  rumour  is  just  spreading,  to  the 
effect  that  the  director  of  the  Berlin  National  Gal- 
lery, von  Tschudi,  is  to  leave  his  post  in  the  course 
of  a  year.  At  the  time  of  his  entry  into  office, 
the  National  Gallery  was  by  some  styled  the 
Catacombs  of  German  nineteenth-century  art.  It 
fell  to  the  lot  of  von  Tschudi  to  turn  it  into  a 
collection  worthy  of  the  German  capital,  and  really 
representative  of  the  art  of  the  past  and  present 
century.  In  England,  where  the  opposition 
between  conservative  and  progressive  art-enthu- 
siasts has  never  been  driven  to  such  a  point  as  on 
the  continent,  the  difficulties  of  the  position  will 
hardly  be  realized.  The  National  Gallery  at  Berlin 
contained  many  specimens  of  the  best  masters,  but 
more,  of  a  larger  circle,  were  entirely  missing  ; 

58 


everything  that  savoured  of  modernity  was  rigidly 
excluded  since  the  year  1880.  The  previous  autho- 
rities did  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  the  art  which 
descended  from  the  school  of  Fontainebleau  and 
of  Manet.  Nothing  by  foreigners  found  its  way 
into  the  halls  of  the  National  Gallery.  Half  of 
them  were  occupied  by  battle  pictures,  which  were 
but  patriotic  offerings  at  best,  and  by  ephemeral 
historical  or  genre  essays.  The  few  years  that 
von  Tschudi  has  been  at  work  have  altogether 
changed  the  character  of  the  gallery.  Uninteresting 
work  has  been  removed  from  the  walls,  and  the 
most  important  lacunae,  which  prevented  the 
collection  from  reflecting  a  true  picture  of 
German  nineteenth-century  art,  have  been  filled 
up.  The  'recent  retrospective  exhibition  was  a 
great  help  thereto.  Finally,  the  show  of  foreign 
work  is  at  least  equal  to  that  in  the  Luxem- 
bourg or  the  Tate  Gallery.  All  this  has  been 
effected  in  constant  strife.  The  director  was 
hampered  by  such  rules  as,  for  example,  that 
his  acquisition  of  works  by  foreign  masters  must 
be  restricted  to  one-tenth  of  the  annual  additions, 
and,  that  one-tenth  once  reached,  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  accept  a  further  foreign  painting,  even 
as  a  gift.  Reactionary  views  have  gained  the 
upper  hand,  and  in  the  Prussian  Diet,  a  member 
blandly  proposed  reinstating  the  National  Gallery 
in  the  status  quo  in  which  von  Tschudi  found  it. 
Rumour  has  even  hinted  that  Dr.  Bode  is  going  to 
resign  his  position  because  of  the  lack  of  support 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  which  von  Tschudi 
has  received.  Probably  there  is  no  foundation 
whatever  for  this  report,  but  it  is  an  indication  of  the 
consternation  with  which  the  former  has  been 
received  by  all  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
National  Gallery. 

The  Kaiser  Friedrich  Museum  at  Berlin  ac- 
quired some  time  ago  the  life-size  portrait  of 
Sir  James  Montgomery,  Lord  Chief  Baron  of  the 
Exchequer,  by  Raeburn.  The  subject  is  seated  in 
black  robes  and  powdered  wig,  looking  some- 
what wistfully  at  the  spectator.  It  is  rather  quieter, 
not  so  buoyant  with  life  as  some  of  Raeburn's 
best  work. 

The  Kunstgewerbemuseum  at  Berlin  has  come 
into  possession  of  some  fine  porcelain,  bought  at 
the  recent  Clenini  sale,  the  principal  articles  being 
three  sets  of  early  Berlin  ware.  The  first  of  these 
is  a  coffee  service,  sent  on  the  22nd  of  April,  1764, 
by  Frederick  the  Great  as  a  gift  to  General  De  la 
Motte  Fouquet,  to  convince  him  that  Berlin  was 
producing  as  fine  a  quality  of  work  as  the  Meissen 
factory.  The  porcelain  shows  the  rosy  tint  com- 
mon to  Berlin's  early  produce,  and  great  delicacy 
in  the  painting.  A  triple  tea  service  in  Louis  XVI 
style,  dates  from  about  1780,  and  is  reminiscent 
of  antique  vases  in  its  shapes.  The  third  set  is 
an  '  Empire'  chocolate  service,  once  a  present  from 
Prince  Biron  of  Curland  to  Count  VVassiliew,  with 


,Mli(l\M.ll.IlT  MARINK.     BY  AIJiKKT  I'.  RYDl-Ii. 
IX  THK  Clil.l.ECTluX    ill'    MK.  X.  [:.  MdXTKuSJ 


Mi>iiXL1i;HT    MAKIXE.  liV     AI.I'.KkT    ]'.    K>lill;. 

IX  THE  CdLI.KCTIilX  OK  SI  k'  WILLIAM  \' \  X    HOKXE 


-5^1 


ART   IN   AMKK'ICA. 
PLATE  II 


f^ 


THE   FOREST  OF  AKDKX.      BY   AI.BHKT   P.    RYDER. 
IN'    THE    COLLECTION    OF    MR.    X.    E.     MOXTROSS 


DE.\TH   OX   THE   P.\LE    HORSE.      I!Y    .ALBERT    1'.    RVDEK 


.ART    IX   .\MERICA. 
PL.\TE      III 


Art  in   Germ. 


any 


portraits  of  Frederick  the  Great,  Queen  Louise  of 
Prussia  and  her  sister  Friederike.  Further  acquisi- 
tions are  a  tine  but  incomplete  Viennese  coffee-set, 

^  ART  IN 

THE   ART   OF   ALBERT   P.   RYDER 
While  we  blame  the  gods  for  denying  us  what 
we  regard  as  our  due  proportion  of  creative  talent, 
it  is  a  tactical  mistake  to  overlook  a  single  one  of 
those  who  have  the  authentic  gift  and  who  work 
scarcely  regarded  in  our  midst.     The  names  of 
quite  a  number  of  American  artists  are  known  to 
most  art  lovers  on  this  side  of   the  Atlantic,  but  I 
believe   comparatively  few   have    ever    heard    of 
Ryder,  and  yet   he  appears  to  me  to  merit  very 
serious  attention.      I   do  not  know  whether  our 
European  ignorance  is  our  own   fault  or  the  fault 
of  those  American  critics  who  ought  to  have  made 
clear   to    us  long    ago  what   undeniable    genius, 
what  unmistakable  inspiration,  shine  through  the 
works  of  this  artist.     Nor  is  it  worth  while  to  con- 
sider whose  the  fault  is.     I  believe  that  one  has 
only  to  show  his  work — even  in  the  accompanying 
reproductions — to  convince  those  who  have  an  open 
mind  and  a  seeing  eye  of  Ryder's  definite  achieve- 
ment.    It  is  the  kind  of  achievement  by  which 
landscape   art  can  justify   itself,    and  the   art   of 
pure  landscape    assuredly    often    stands   in  need 
of  justification.      Ryder's    genius    is    essentially 
akin  to   that   of   the   lyric   poet  :    it   might  arise 
almost  at  any  moment,  and  in  any  circumstances  ; 
it   does    not   belong   particularly   to    its    age    or 
its  place;  one  might  almost  say  that  it  was  in- 
dependent  of   the    artistic   tradition   it  inherited. 
Certainly,  its  effects  depend  upon  no  slowly  built- 
up  knowledge  of  technique  and  construction,  no 
inherited    craftsmanship    handed    on    from   one 
generation  to  another.     What  Ryder  has  to  say  is 
so  entirely  personal,  so  immediately  the  fruit  of 
his  own  peculiar  humours,  that  he  was  bound  to 
find  for  it  a  mode  of  expression  equally  peculiar 
and  individual.     Ryder,  of  course,  belongs  quite 
definitely  to  his  age,  and,    though  not  quite   so 
obviously,   to   his  country  ;    but  it  is    partly   by 
virtue  of  this  very  exaggeration   of  individualism 
in  his  art  that  he  does  so.     So  that  it  seems  of 
little  importance  to  explain,  even  if  I  were  able  to, 
his  genesis  and  development.     One   accepts  him 
merely  as  an   isolated  phenomenon,    a  delightful 
and  unexpected  freak  of  his  stock.    Still,  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  associate  him  almost  immediately  with 
one  other  American  creator,  namely,  Edgar  Allan 
Poe,  nor  to  wonder  whether  similar  circumstances, 
or  a  similar  violence  of  reaction  from  them,  have 
been  at  work  in  the  formation  of  their  kindred  spirits. 
In  any  case,  Ryder,  though  he  is  happily  still  in 
full   possession  of    his   powers,  still  a  producer, 
belongs  to  the  pre-Whistlerian  age.     He  is  the  last 
gleaning  of  the  harvest  of  1830  ;  his  romanticism 


about  1735  ;  some  of  Bottger's  red  earthenware  ; 
and  little  figures  of  Berlin,  Fulda,  Nymphenburg 
and  Viennese  porcelain.  H.  W.  S. 

AMERICA  ci^ 

has  the  fervour  and  heat  of  the  earlier  votaries  of 
the  movement,  he  has  the  unconsciousness  and 
abandonment  which  one  looks  for  in  vain  in 
contemporary  art.  One  thinks  first,  as  I  said,  of 
Poe,  because  something  in  their  isolation  has 
given  a  common  quality  to  the  work  of  the  two, 
but  after  him  one  thinks  of  the  earlier  romanticists, 
of  Shelley,  of  Coleridge,  of  Schubert. 

Take  for  instance  his  Constance  (Plate  i).  It  has 
the  audacity  of  conviction,  the  sheer  indifference 
to  all  ordinary  plausibility,  of  an  inspired  vision. 
It  might  be  dangerous  to  hazard  a  guess  as  to 
which  way  the  boat  is  moving,  or  how  it  is 
constructed  or  can  float  at  all ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  it  is  moving  forward  by  some  magic 
spell  with  the  silent  swiftness  of  Alastor's  bark 
'As  one  that  in  a  silver  vision  floats.  Beneath  the 
cold  glare  of  the  desolate  night.'  And  all  this,  so 
comparatively  easy  to  poetry,  so  difficult  to  painting 
with  its  more  specialized  vision,  is  given  by  a  very 
peculiar  method,  by  a  most  elaborate  and  hyper- 
subtle  simplification.  The  actual  forms  are  almost 
childishly  simple,  but  they  have  a  mass  and  content 
essential  to  the  effect  they  produce. 

And  this,  I  take  it,  is  one  of  the  crucial  problems 
of  the  painter,  especially  the  modern  painter, 
namely,  to  give  a  sense  of  the  complexity,  infinity 
and  richness  of  matter  without  involving  his 
design  with  a  corresponding  complexity  of  form. 
Ryder  has  solved  it  by  painting  over  and  over 
again,  loading  his  paint  sometimes  to  a  dangerous 
extent,  and  producing  at  last  a  wonderful  enamelled 
surface  overlying  a  broken  and  highly  varied  im- 
pasto.  It  may  be  that  this  peculiar  technique, 
which  he  has  worked  out  for  himself,  is  also  due 
to  a  certain  tentativeness,  almost  a  hesitation,  in  his 
manner,  which  leads  him  continually  to  refine  on 
the  idea,  changing  gradually  every  element  in  the 
design  until  each  part  becomes  expressive.  In 
any  case,  the  result  of  this  infinitely  laborious  pro- 
cess is  one  of  great  simplicity  in  the  achieved 
result.  The  actual  units  of  composition  are  few, 
and  only  by  the  subtlest  perfection  of  their  relation 
could  such  a  rich  content  be  given  by  such  bare 
material.  Here  the  placing  and  shape  of  the 
ungainly  mass  of  the  boat  have  clearly  been  refined 
upon  endlessly,  they  could  not  have  been  arrived 
at  an  premier  coup ;  but  surely  the  whole  design 
would  fall  apart  or  lapse  into  dullness  if  it  were 
not  for  the  fine  discovery  and  the  exquisite  adjust- 
ment of  the  diagonal  masses  of  the  nearer  clouds 
giving  a  drift  of  motion  opposed  to  the  horizontal 
lines  of  the  distant  strata. 

As  simple  in  its  elements  and  yet  as  full  of  nicety 

63 


Art  in  America 


is  another  Marine  by  him  (Plate  ii,  No.  2).  It  too 
has  movement,  though  of  another  kind — more 
buoyant,  more  exhilarating,  less  ghostly — for  the 
mood  is  entirely  different  from  the  last.  But  here 
again  the  simplification  of  the  forms,  the  willed 
awkwardness  and  ^(7»c/jt'm'  of  the  ship's  silhouette, 
gives  I  know  not  what  of  conviction  to  our  sense  of 
the  infinite  planes  of  wind-swept,  moon-illumined 
air.  And  again  as  always  in  Ryder's  works  the  cloud 
arabesque  has  the  symbolism  of  high  romance. 

For  purest  romanticism,  it  would  indeed  be 
hard  to  surpass  the  Forest  of  Arden  (Plate  iii,  No.i). 
What  invitation  in  the  winding  stream,  what 
unrealized,  oft-dreamt  possibilities  beyond  those 
undulating  hills,  what  seclusion  and  what  delicious 
terrors  in  the  brooding  woods,  and  what  happy 
augury  in  the  sky  !  One  might  perhaps  wish  the 
lovers  away.  Mr.  Ryder  has  not  quite  the  power 
to  people  his  own  landscape,  and  after  all — for 
romanticism  is  the  most  egoistic  effort  of  the  ima- 
gination— we  each  want  the  Forest  of  Arden  for 
our  own  loves.  How  he  could  have  got  his  com- 
position without  these  figures  I  cannot  tell,  but 
that  is  Mr.  Ryder's  concern. 

In  quite  the  opposite  vein  is  the  Death  on  the 
racecourse  (Plate  iii,  No.  2).  Here  the  planning 
of  masses  is  less  deliberate  ;  the  whole  effect  is 
more  elusive  ;  the  technique,  if  I  remember  right, 
thinner — it  approaches  more  to  the  feeling  and  the 
handling  of  Matthew  Maris,  with  whom  Ryder 
has  much  in  common.  But  this  shows,  too,  his 
likeness  with  Poe,  for  both  have  the  quality  of 
lyrical  macabre,  though  Ryder's  have  not  the 
perversity  of  Poe's  inventions.  This  seems  to  me 
slighter  than  those  I  have  hitherto  discussed,  both 
in  motive  and  in  execution.  It  is  rather  by  way 
of  a  poetical  conceit  than  a  deeply-felt  poetical 
truth  to  give  us  Death,  the  racer  who  has  ridden 
down  all  rivals  and  now  is  condemned  to  ride 
round  for  ever,  deprived  of  the  dear  companion- 
ship of  his  enemy  and  victim,  man.  I  lay  no  stress 
on  my  interpretation,  which  as  likely  is  not  is 
wrong  ;  but  some  such  ideas  are  prompted  in  my 
mind  by  the  vague  but  not  serious  dread  of  the 
cloud  arabesque  and  the  admirably  thought-out 
contour  of  the  distant  hill. 

Finally,  let  me  speak  of  what,  so  far  as  I  have 
seen  his  work,  is  Ryder's  masterpiece,  the  Flying 
Dutchman  (Plate  ii.  No.  i).  I  am  by  no  means 
sure  that  I  have  any  right  to  give  it  this  title,  but 
somehow  the  ideas  have  got  associated  in  my  mind. 
It  seems  to  possess  the  weird  and  legendary  awe 
that  befits  that  theme.  Here  the  emotion  is  more 
serious,  more  profound,  than  in  those  we  have 
discussed  before.  And  in  correspondence  with 
that  the  design  is  more  absolutely  ascertained,  the 
tone  and  colour  harmonies  more  definite,  and, 
finally,  the  quality  of  the  paint  has  the  perfection 
and  the  elusive  hardness  of  some  precious  stone. 
I  doubt  whether  the  artist  himself   could   to-day 

64 


tell  us  by  what  unconscionable  processes,  by 
snatching  at  what  felicitous  accidents,  by  obedience 
to  what  half-guessed  principles,  he  has  wrought 
the  slimy  clay  of  oil  pigment  to  this  gem-like 
resistance  and  translucency.  The  whole  effect  is 
that  of  some  uneven  enamel,  certainly  of  some- 
thing that  has  passed  through  fire  to  give  it  so 
unyielding  a  consistency.  That  this  extraordinary 
quality  has  been  reached  only  with  infinite  labour 
is  evident  from  the  dangers  that  this  little  panel 
has  undergone  of  cracking  up  altogether  owing 
to  the  incessant  overloading  of  one  coat  of  paint 
on  another.  Such  a  technique  is  for  that  very 
reason  not  in  itself  desirable  ;  and,  could  the  result 
here  attained  have  been  reached  by  more  controlled, 
more  craftsmanlike  methods,  one  would  certainly 
have  preferred  it.  But  we  accept  it  none  the  less 
as  it  is,  as  something  unique  in  its  method,  but 
something  in  which  the  peculiar  method  is  felt  to 
be  essentially  bound  up  with  the  imaginative  idea 
and  to  be  justified  by  the  perfection  with  which  it 
renders  that. 

I  wish  I  could  translate  the  ominous  splendour 
of  the  colouring  into  words.  I  can  only  give  a  faint 
idea.  The  sky  is  of  a  suffused,  intense  luminosity, 
so  intense  that  the  straw-coloured  moon  and 
yellower  edges  of  the  clouds  barely  tell  upon  it. 
The  clouds  themselves  (one  may  guess  from  them 
that  Ryder  has  been  a  student  of  Blake),  the 
clouds  are  of  a  terrible,  forbidding,  slatey  grey, 
not  opaque,  but  rather  like  the  grey  of  polished 
agate,  only  darker,  harder,  more  unyielding.  These 
are  so  dark,  and  their  silhouette  on  the  sky  is  so 
fiercely  emphasized,  that  the  utter  blackness  of  the 
sails  can  barely  tell  upon  them.  Almost  equal  in 
tone  with  the  clouds  is  the  mass  of  the  sea  itself, 
but  in  colour  it  contrasts  with  them,  being  of  an 
intense  malachite  green,  dark,  inscrutable,  and  yet 
full  of  the  hidden  life  of  jewels  and  transparent 
things.  This  note  is  taken  up  again,  if  I  remember 
rightly,  in  the  sky  at  the  top  left  hand  side,  but 
with  a  tendency  to  dull  peacock.  I  need  say 
nothing  of  the  composition,  of  the  effect  of  unend- 
ing, relentless  movement  given  by  the  diagonals 
crossing,  at  such  nicely  discovered  points  and  with 
such  just  inclinations,  the  barred  horizontals — its 
rare  quality  is  evident  even  in  our  reproduction. 
Here,  then,  is  a  vision  recorded  for  us  so  absolutely 
that  once  seen  it  can  never  be  forgotten.  It  has 
the  authoritative,  arresting  power  of  genuine 
inspiration. 

Sensations  such  as  this  little  picture  arouses  are 
not  so  common  that  one  can  afford  to  pass  them 
by  without  dedicating  one's  tribute  of  praise  to 
their  authors,  or  without  desiring  that  a  wider 
circle  should  enjoy  so  much  of  them  as  can  be 
conveyed  by  a  reproduction.  I  have  to  thank  Sir 
William  van  Home  and  Mr.  Montross  for  their 
courtesy  in  permitting  me  to  make  use  of  their 
examples  of  Ryder's  work.         Roger  E.  Fry. 


(^' 


/ 


Jro  //n-    rof/eclUn.  of.,  .^/r  Siaud^.  i^^^  i/Z'/^- 


S^.^tV^jL^.^^-'^i'^- 


EDITORIAL  ARTK 
^  TRF  CRISIS  TV  GERM  ^-  * 

'"  ■  -  by  mutual   l 

nne  will  hope  , 
•'hanee   of  n* 


■i:    la    j::<iigiajia,  vvnere 

, has   been  in  operation 

.ic  time,  its  objectionable    fe^tvr(^< 
been  considerably  nHtijrateci 

MODERN. 

HE     picture     -„uv 
London  of  the  past  '• 
or    three    months 
been  of  considerable  i. 
tercst.     A  great  v 

Vw«^  of   works    of    art     . 

^or  iude:^ment,  and,  in  spite  of  r 
>f  trade,  there  ha^ 


y  iU-advised 
apart  from  the 
one  1^1^  -•   •■  1 
Dr. 


tc 

v  teit  for 

work  as 


.merit 

t.                ■'- 

h:, 

..itea 

evci- 

'•f  firs:  , 

pictu, 
kind, jut 

standard. 

'lOugh 

e  up  to  th 

No  doubi 

:;arcity  of  n ;-,... ^ 

has  somethi)' 

his  discrimina- 

tion.    For  th' 

s  there  must 

r 

always  be  a  m- 
can    wait    till 

'ess  good 
•tlook    is 

If,  T/te 
work  of 

I'^rt  (r>l  »-,'■  )•              T\  :* 

fnr   in- 

rA>mc  !• 

.'>  ia.<iuJj<u7w;j   U'' 

r.was  apt  to  , 
artists  whom  he  patron; 
e  once  made  he  was  faiti; 

'*'■''■  picture  after  -  

,    tnter  or  favouj  .      _ 
id  schools  seem  to  have 
vork  of  art  be 


EDITORIAL 

^  THE  CRISIS 

MONG  those  who  have 
made  any  study  of  the  pro- 
gress of  public  galleries 
'during  the  past  few  years 
there  can  be  no  two 
^opinions  as  to  the  report- 
ed retirement  of  Dr.  Von  Tschudi.  It  has 
been  generally  recognized  that  the  great 
progress  made  by  Germany  and  American 
art  collections  during  the  last  decade  has 
been  due  to  the  courage  with  which  both 
nations  have  adopted  the  principle  of 
choosing  able  directors  and  giving  them 
a  free  hand.  Even  in  England,  where 
the  contrary  plan  has  been  in  operation 
for  some  time,  its  objectionable  features 
have  been  considerably  mitigated  of  recent 


ARTICLES 
IN  GERMANY  rjkp 

years  by  mutual  tact  and  good  sense,  and 
every  one  will  hope  that  the  report  of  this 
sudden  change  of  attitude  in  Germany 
will  prove  to  be  unfounded.  Whatever 
interest  we  may  take  in  the  friendly  rivalry 
between  the  great  collections  of  our  own 
and  other  countries,  that  feeling  in  the  case 
of  Germany  is  tempered  by  so  much  ad- 
miration for  the  acumen  and  enterprise  her 
great  museum  directors  have  shown,  that 
we  should  be  genuinely  sorry  if  her  appre- 
ciation of  the  fine  arts  was  to  be  narrowed 
by  ill-advised  official  interference,  quite 
apart  from  the  personal  sympathy  felt  for 
one  who  has  done  such  splendid  work  as 
Dr.  Von  Tschudi. 


MODERN  PICTURES  IN  THE  SALEROOM 


HE  picture  sales  in 
London  of  the  past  two 
or  three  months  have 
been  of  considerable  in- 
terest. A  great  variety 
of  works  of  art  have 
come  up  for  judgment,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
general  depression  of  trade,  there  has  been 
no  disinclination  to  pay  for  the  very  finest 
things  even  larger  prices  than  have  ever 
been  paid  for  them  before.  Things  of 
average  merit  have,  on  the  other  hand, 
fallen  considerably  in  value,  and  buyers 
have  discriminated  more  sharply  than 
ever  between  quite  first-rate  examples  and 
pictures  which,  though  good  of  their 
kind,  just  fail  to  come  up  to  the  highest 
standard. 

No  doubt  the  general  scarcity  of  money 
has  something  to  do  with  this  discrimina- 
tion. For  the  very  best  things  there  must 
always  be  a  market,  but  things  less  good 
can  wait  till  the  financial  outlook  is 
brighter.      But  with   this    reason    for  in- 

Thk  Burungton  Magazine,  No.  63.    Vol.  XIII— May.  1908. 


equalities  of  price,  others,  hardly  less 
potent,  must  be  reckoned. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  though 
the  number  of  picture  buyers  may  not  have 
increased  greatly,  their  critical  faculty  has 
been  considerably  augmented.  In  the  past 
the  collector  was  apt  to  pick  and  choose 
the  artists  whom  he  patronized,  but  the 
choice  once  made  he  was  faithful  to  it, 
and  bought  picture  after  picture  from  his 
favourite  painter  or  favourite  school.  Now, 
names  and  schools  seem  to  have  lost  their 
glamour  :  the  work  of  art  becomes  more 
and  more,  the  painter  less  and  less. 

Ten  years  ago  any  painting  by  Millais 
that  came  into  the  market  would  have 
fetched  a  high  price  on  the  mere  strength 
of  his  reputation.  Now  it  is  generally 
recognized  that  his  later  pictures  are  hardly 
better  than  those  of  his  academic  contem- 
poraries, and  so  they  share  a  similar  fate. 
If  The  Huguenot  or  any  other  important 
work  of  Millais's  wonderful  youth  were  to 
come  into  the  market,  it  would  still  fetch 

67 


Modern  Pictures  in  the  Saleroom 


an  enormous  price,  but  that  price  would 
be  of  little  or  no  assistance  to  the  artist's 
feebler  products. 

Even  a  name  like  that  of  Turner  will 
not  sustain  any  Turners  that  fall  short  of 
supreme  excellence.  A  superb  drawing 
like  the  Constance  will  fetch  more  than  two 
thousand  guineas  ;  a  drawing  of  the  same 
size  but  less  perfect  in  conception  and  con- 
dition will  hardly  be  worth  a  twentieth  of 
that  sum.  Even  the  great  masters  of  the 
Barbizon  school,  though  they  are  supported 
by  very  strong  cosmopolitan  patronage, 
cannot  escape  these  fluctuations  entirely, 
though  the  oscillations  of  price  are  never 
so  violent  as  in  the  case  of  men  like 
Millais,  whose  reputation  was  for  the 
most  part  a  fashion  of  one  country  and 
one  period. 

But  if  the  great  names  of  the  auction-room 
are  subjected  to  this  fierce  ordeal,  can  wc 
wonder  that  the  minor  men  sometimes  fall 
into  utter  disrepute  ?  Over  the  fate  of  such 
painters  as  Boughton  and  Calderon  it  is  hard 
to  feel  much  pity.  They  painted  for  popu- 
larity and  achieved  it,  and  the  prices  their 
pictures  now  fetch  seem  low  only  because 
the  prices  which  they  once  asked  and 
obtained  were  absurdly  high.  Hook  and 
Henry  Moore  stand  on  a  somewhat  difi^erent 
footing.  Both  possessed  a  fresh  and  vigorous 
talent,  and,  though  the  taste  of  the  public 
compelled  them  to  work  in  a  narrow  groove, 
the  work  they  did  was,  in  its  way,  good. 

Yet  facts  seem  to  show  that  the  obvious 
naturalism  which  their  public  compelled 
Hook  and  Henry  Moore  to  practise  is  a  field 
in  which  other  men  may  (like  Mr.  Hemy) 
obtain  similar  competence,  and  they  have 
lost  the'  affections  of  the  market  in  some 
degree,  quite  apart  from  such  actual  weak- 
nesses as  may  exist  in  their  work,  because  a 
number  of  other  painters  have  produced  and 
arc  producing  seascapes  of  the  same  char- 
acter and  force.     Able  naturalism  is  com- 

68 


mon  in  these  days,  and  the  expert  collector 
needs  something  that  is  more  than  common. 

Yetamong  the  artists  whose  work  answers 
that  description,  who  have  been  more  than 
capable  painters  of  natural  phenomena,  we 
find  considerable  fluctuations  in  value. 

The  great  Preraphaelites,  for  example, 
have  been  looming  larger  and  larger  in 
the  public  eye,  and  receiving  more  gene- 
rally the  appreciation  which  they  have 
long  deserved.  In  the  past  they  were 
patronized  chiefly  by  a  small  body  of 
enthusiastic  admirers  and,  possibly  as  a 
reaction  from  outside  hostility,  these 
admirers  were  w^ont  to  value  both  the 
weak  and  the  strong  works  of  the  school 
at  a  level  which,  if  not  very  high,  was 
more  or  less  uniform.  Now  that  recog- 
nition of  Preraphaelite  work  has  become, 
as  it  w^ere,  a  part  of  the  common  stock  of 
artistic  knowledge,  the  market  has  begun 
to  pick  and  choose  between  the  best  things 
and  the  things  that  are  not  quite  so  good. 

Rossetti,  in  consequence,  is  now  taking 
his  true  place,  and  his  early  works,  more 
especially  those  in  water  colour,  in  which 
is  concentrated  the  essence  of  his  great 
genius  as  an  imaginative  designer,  are 
rising  rapidly  in  value,  while  his  larger, 
later  oil  paintings  and  studies,  where  his 
hold  both  on  life  and  on  design  is  relaxed, 
are  somewhat  less  highly  prized. 

The  art  of  Burne-Jones  is  being  subjected 
to  a  similar  ordeal,  and  it  would  appear 
that  in  his  case  the  public  judgment  is 
still  unreliable.  Otherwise  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  why,  on  the  very  day  when 
A  Wood-Nymph  quite  deservedly  fetched  a 
high  price,  A  Sea-Nymph,  the  companion 
picture,  and  in  its  way  no  less  delightful, 
reached  only  a  very  moderate  figure. 
Possibly  the  design  was  too  boldly  sym- 
bolic and  decorative  for  the  public  com- 
prehension, and  it  may  be  noticed  that 
another  fine  designer,  Ford  Madox  Brown, 


Modern  T^ictures  in  the  Saleroom 


has  never  yet  attained  anything  like  the 
appreciation  which  must  inevitably  some 
day  be  his.  We  seem,  in  fact,  to  have  got 
to  a  stage  when  we  recognize  the  absence 
of  good  design,  but  are  still  not  quite 
accustomed  to  its  presence. 

The  press  has  made  much  of  the  collapse 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  prices  ob- 
tained for  the  work  of  well-known  Acade- 
micians. We  can  now  see  pretty  clearly 
what  the  causes  of  the  collapse  have  been. 
It  is  generally  recognized  that  the  prices 
they  once  obtained  were  quite  artificial,  and 
had  no  relation  to  current  market  value. 
Had  they  sold  their  pictures  originally 
for  fifty  or  a  hundred  pounds  apiece,  and 
been  content  to  live  like  artists,  the  prices 
their  works  fetch  to-day  would  not  be  a 
matter  of  comment.  They  made  the  mis- 
take of  wishing  to  live  like  merchant 
princes,  and  are  paying  for  it  in  posthu- 
mous discredit.  The  only  painter  who  can 
afford  such  luxurious  ideals  is  the  success- 
ful portrait  painter,  for  his  success  is  based 
on  the  everlasting  foundation  of  human 
vanity.  All  other  artists  have  to  build 
upon  the  uncertain  sands  of  contemporary 
taste  and  intelligence. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  matter  of  colour 
and  design  that  the  Academicians  as  a 
group  have  failed  most  signally  to  satisfy 
a  more  critical  age,  and  the  chief  cause  of 


their  unpopularity  lies  in  the  simple  fact 
that  their  works,  when  hung  on  the  wall 
at  Christie's,  fail  to  hold  their  own.  The 
tender  talent  of  such  a  painter  as  George 
Mason,  for  example,  still  charms  us  be- 
cause, though  it  may  reflect  the  senti- 
mentality of  a  bygone  epoch,  it  is  expressed 
in  pictures  that  are  pleasantly  coloured  and 
rhythmically  designed  ;  while  the  accom- 
plishment and  minute  observation  of  a 
Brett,  the  breezy  naturalism  of  a  Henry 
Moore,  and  the  undeniable  talent  and  skill 
of  a  Hook  (not  to  mention  the  poor,  futile 
anecdotists  associated  with  them)  are  dis- 
played in  vain,  because  the  sense  of  design 
and  colour  is  in  abeyance  or  wholly 
absent. 

The  verdict  of  the  market  may  have 
been  severe,  but  it  has  not  been  entirely 
unjust.  Nor  is  it  without  promise  of  a  more 
speedy  recognition  in  the  future  for  the 
artists  who  are  above  all  things  good 
designers  and  good  colourists,  and  for  the 
collectors  who  have  the  judgment  to 
patronize  them  in  time.  The  weeding 
process  that  is  now  taking  place  is  an  un- 
pleasant but  much-needed  preUminary,  if 
not  to  a  millennium,  at  least  to  a  state  of 
things  in  which  a  good  artist  ought  to  be 
tolerably  sure  of  a  modest  competence.  If 
he  is  really  a  good  artist,  that  prospect 
should  content  him. 


SOME  NOTES    ON  THE   ORIGIN    AND    THE    DEVELOPMENT 
OF  THE  ENAMELLED  PORCELAIN  OF  THE  CHINESE— IP 

^  BY  EDWARD  DILLON  r*^ 

N  the  first  part  of  this  paper  I 


6t:4 


spoke  of  the  two  main  classes 
into  which  the  enamelled  porce- 
ain  of  late  Ming  times  may  be 
divided,  and  I  gave  some  account 
of  the  group  with  prevalent  iron- 
y^^'li^red  decoration.  The  other  and 
Jt^t^  larger  group  is  of  quite  a  differ- 


ent character.     Under  this  division  we  must  bring 

'  For  Part  I  see  The  Burlington  Magazine,  vol.  xiii,   r-  4. 
April  igoS. 


together  the  earliest,  or  nearly  the  earliest,  members 
of  a  large  class  of  enamelled  porcelain  that  is 
known  to  the  Chinese  .as  the  zvu-tsai  from  the  five 
colours  that  occur  in  the  decoration.  These  colours 
are,  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  in  Ming  times 
at  least,  an  under-glaze  cobalt  blue,  a  leafy  green 
of  two  shades,  an  iron-red  often  of  a  rich  orange 
hue,  a  poor  purple  and  a  yellow  passing  from  straw- 
colour  to  full  Naples  yellow— the  last  two  colours 
generally  very  sparingly  applied. 

Now  unlike  the  iron-red  family  lately  described, 

69 


Qhinese  Enamelled  Porcelain 

this  five-colour  group  probably — but  we  have  no 
definite  proof  of  this — had  its  origin  before  the 
time  of  Wan-li.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  next 
dynasty  we  may  regard  an  important  contingent  of 
the  vast  series  of  enamelled  porcelain  that  we  know 
as  the  faiiiille  vcrte  as  a  development  or  a  revival  of 
the  Wan-li  pentad.'  From  the  predominance  of 
the  under-glaze  blue  in  the  earlier  specimens,  this 
Wan-li  five-colour  group  may  be  perhaps  held  to 
be  itself  a  development  of  the  Ming  'blue  and  white.' 
There  is  in  the  British  Museum  a  handsome  plate 
with  scenes  from  the  Taoist  heaven  that  well  illus- 
trates this  stage.  On  this  plate  the  blue  is  only 
enlivened  here  and  there  by  a  few  passages  of  other 
colours.  Near  to  it,  in  the  same  case,  is  a  pear- 
shaped  vase  with  magnolia  blossom  and  the  fan- 
tastic figure  of  a  cock  ;  on  this  vase  the  over-glaze 
colours  play  a  more  prominent  part,  although  the 
under-glaze  blue  is  still  predominant.  Both  these 
are  probably  examples  of  Ming  porcelain,  perhaps 
from  the  beginning  of  Wan-li's  reign,  before  the 
decadence  had  set  in. 

We  must  now  see  what  can  be  gleaned  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  these  new  enamel  colours 
and  the  conditions  under  which  they  were  applied. 
The  potters  of  early  Ming  days  were  able  to  com- 
bine with  their  decoration  of  under-glaze  blue  a 
brilliant  crimson  derived  from  copper.  This 
colour  also  was  applied  under  the  glaze.  When  in 
the  sixteenth  century  the  art  was  lost — the  under- 
glaze  copper  was  now  at  best  of  a  russet  tint — its 
place  was  taken  by  an  iron-red,  a  kind  of  bole, 
applied  over  the  glaze.  There  are  many  references 
to  this  new  colour — it  was  evidently  regarded  as  a 
makeshift — in  the  orders  sent  down  to  the  potters 
at  King-te-chen  from  Pekin  by  the  palace  officials 
of  the  later  Ming  emperors.  Along  with  the  iron- 
red  other  over-glaze  colours  make  their  appear- 
ance, completing  the  pentad — the  wii-tsai.  These 
are  a  manganese  purple,  a  copper  green  and  a 
yellow  generally  of  a  pale  straw  colour  (this  yellow 
enamel  contains,  in  addition  to  iron  sesqui-oxide, 
more  or  less  antimony).  Now — and  this  is  a  very 
significant  point  to  bear  in  mind  in  connexion 
with  the  development  of  the  enamel  decoration  of 
porcelain — these  last  are  the  three  colours  used  in 
another  important  group  of  polychrome  Chinese 
porcelain.  They  are  the  base  of  the  san-isai  or 
colour  triad  of  what  may  be  called  the  '  painted 
glazes,'  a  family  that  had  its  origin  in  early  Ming 
times,  and  of  which  I  shall  shortly  have  something 
to  say.  For  the  present  it  will  be  enough  to  state 
that  the  san-tsai  painted  glazes  are  not  properly 
enamel  colours,  but,  as  the  name  implies,  glazes 
painted  over  the  biscuit,  which  was  then  re-fired 
in  the  original  kiln,  but  at  a  lower  temperature. 

'^  There  is,  as  we  shall  see,  another  large  department  of  the 
fainillc  veiic  which  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  development  or  rather 
as  a  representative  of  the  early  Ming  ware  with  painted  glazes 
that  has  yet  to  be  described. 

7° 


They  were  revived  in  another  form  at  the  time  of 
the  great  renaissance  under  Kang-he,  but  we  are 
not  concerned  with  them  when  treating  of  the 
Wan-li  enamelled  wares.  What  I  want  to 
accentuate  is  that  the  five  colours  that  have  played 
so  important  a  part  in  the  history  of  enamelled 
porcelain  had  their  origin  in  a  combination  of  the 
under-glaze  blue,  first  with  the  iron-red  that  had 
replaced  the  under-glaze  copper,  and  then  with  the 
three  colours  of  the  painted  glazes  (otherwise  of 
the  dcuii-grand  fen)  which  were  now  employed  as 
enamels  over  the  glaze. 

Provided,  then,  with  this  pentad  of  colours,  the 
potters  of  late  Ming  times  began  to  decorate  their 
enamelled  porcelain  with  the  same  conventional 
designs  that  had  long  served  for  their  blue  and 
white  ware ;  indeed,  as  I  have  said,  in  the  earlier 
specimens  the  underglaze  blue  is  still  dominant.  A 
type  was  thus  established  which  prevailed,  it  would 
seem,  during  the  ensuing  period  of  unrest  that  pre- 
ceded the  revival  under  Kang-he.  After  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century  there  arose  some  demand 
for  enamelled  porcelain  in  Europe,  and  it  was  ware 
of  this  type  that  was  then  first  exported.  Indeed  it 
would  appear  that  the  exportation  of  this  class  of 
porcelain  continued  for  some  years  after  the  intro- 
duction of  a  more  artistic  or,  at  least,  of  a  more 
refined  style  at  King-te-chen  when,  at  the  instigation 
of  the  great  viceroys  sent  down  by  Kang-he,  new 
life  was  thown  into  the  kilns.  Examples  of  this 
rather  summarily  decorated  ware,  classed  sometimes 
as  faniilleverte,  ^t  others  as  '  Ming  enamels,'  are 
often  to  be  found  in  old  houses  in  England.  As  a 
class  it  is  nowhere  better  illustrated  than  at 
Hampton  Court.^  The  great  and  varied  triumphs 
of  polychrome  decoration  which  we  include  under 
the  name  of  famille  verle  were  doubtless  at  first 
reserved  for  '  palace  '  consumption,  and  examples 
only  reached  Europe  at  a  much  later  date.  So  far 
as  these  belong  to  the  five-colour  group  (we  must 
remember  that  a  part  of  the  so-called  famille  verte 
belongs  to  the  three-colour  group  and  had,  as  we 
shall  see,  a  quite  different  origin)  they  are  distin- 
guished by  the  increased  prevalence  of  a  leafy 
green.  On  the  other  hand  the  under-glaze  blue  now 
takes  a  secondary  position  and  is  soon  replaced  by 
a  cobalt  enamel  over  the  glaze. 

There  is  another  ground  for  the  recognition 
of  the  historical  importance  of  the  five-colour 
enamels  of  late  Ming  times.  We  must  recognize 
in  them  the  origin  of  the  great  group  of  enamelled 
porcelain  of  Imari,  the  'Old  Japan'  of  our  an- 
cestors. Although  as  a  distinct  family  the  Imari 
ware — made  for  the  most  part  for  exportation 
— was   not   developed    before    the    close   of    the 

^  For  some  notes  on  the  oriental  porcelain  at  Hampton  Court, 
see  my  '  Porcelain,'  p.  225  seq.  Since  th.it  account  was  written 
the  china  in  the  palace  has  been  rearranged.  It  is  now  better 
seen,  but  one  must  regret  the  removal  of  some  quaint  old  pieces 
from  a  cabinet  in  which  they  may  very  well  have  been  placed 
by  that  enthusiastic  collector.  Queen  Mary. 


CHINESE  PORCELAIN  ENAMELLED  WITH  FIVE 
COLOURS.  XVI  CENTURY  (EARLY  OK  LATEI. 
IN     THE     VICTORIA     AND   , ALBERT     MUSEUM 


n 


CHINESE    ENAMELLED 
PORCELAIN.      PLATE   1 


,"i> 


I       CHINESE  PORCELAIN  BOWL  \Y1TH  OVERGLAZE  DESUIN  IN  EIVE  COLOURS.      DATE- 
MARK   OF   CHENG-TE   (1505-15JII.      BY    KIND   PERMISSION   OF   MR.    GEORGE   SALTlNti 


2.    WATER-VESSEL  IN  FORM  OF  CARP.     '  SAN-TSAl'  PAINTED  3-      SMALL   WATER-VESSEL  IN   FORM  OF   ^"'^''^^    ''';[''';"  _.„LV 

GLAZES    WITHOUT    BLACK     PENCILLING.       PROBABLY    XVI  :aK.     '  SAN-TSAI  '  PAINTED  GLAZES  WITH  BLACK  PENCILLING.     EARL. 

CENTURY.  IN     THE    VICTORIA     AND     ALBERT     MUSEUM  XVIII    CENTURY.        BY    KIND    PERMISSION    OF    MR.    GEOKGE   SALTING 


CHINESE   ENAMELLED 
PORCELAIN.    PLATE  II 


seventeenth  century,  yet  it  would  seem  to  be 
founded  on  a  comparatively  early  stage  of  the 
late  Ming  enamels.  The  under-glaze  blue,  of 
peculiar  tint,  is  here  distinctly  dominant,  and  is 
sometimes  combined  with  little  else  than  a  skilfully 
distributed  gilding  and  a  few  touches  of  iron-red. 
In  attempting  to  unravel  the  obscure  and  com- 
plicated history  of  the  origin  and  development  of 
enamelled  porcelain  it  is  essential  to  bear  in  mind 
that,  as  a  class,  this  ware  had  its  origin  during  a 
time  of  decadence.  To  a  Chinese  mind  the  intro- 
duction of  enamel  decoration  has  come  to  be 
associated  with  that  decadence  and  with  the 
accompanying  relaxation  of  manners— above  all, 
with  the  inroad  of  foreign  fashions  that  were  part 
and  parcel  of  the  decay.  We  have  evidence  of 
this  in  the  protest  of  the  censors  against  the  orders 
for  polychrome  ware  sent  down  to  the  potteries 
by  Wan-li  himself.  Now  it  so  happened  that  it 
was  precisely  during  the  period  of  anarchy  which 
set  in  after  the  death  of  that  emperor,  and  which 
we  have  seen  continued,  in  the  southern  provmces 
at  least,  up  to  nearly  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  that  the  great  demand  for  Chinese  porce- 
lain arose  in  India,  in  Persia,  and  somewhat  later 
in  Europe.  We  must  not,  then,  be  surprised  to 
find  that  the  wares  exported  at  this  time  were  of 
inferior  quality,  and  that  as  a  whole  they  have 
about  them  something  exotic  and  what  to  a 
Chinese  mind  would  appear  barbarous.  This 
would  apply  not  only  to  the  '  blue  and  white ' 
exported  in  such  amazing  quantities  to  India,  to 
Persia'  and  to  Holland,  but  still  more, perhaps,  to 
the  coloured  ware  for  which  the  demand,  towards 
the  end  of  this  period,  was  arising  in  Europe 
generally. 

We  must  not,  then,  be  surprised  that  when  a 
definite  revival  came  some  time  after  the  accession 
of  Kang-he,  a  sponge  was,  as  it  were,  wiped  over 
all  this  evil  period.  All  that  it  produced  was 
ignored,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  return  to 
the  wares  of  early  Ming  and  even  more  remote 
times.  This  was  a  spirit  that  continued  to  in- 
fluence much  of  the  work  produced  under  the  two 
succeeding  emperors,  Yung-ching  and  Kien-lung. 
The  movement  in  favour  of  the  old  work  was, 
however,  carried  out  on  the  freest  lines.  To  give 
but  one  example,  an  important  class  of  Kien-lung 
porcelain  {'famille  rose  egg-shell,'  we  should  call 
it)  was  held  to  be  a  resurrection  of  the  '  chicken 
cups'  of  Cheng-hua  (1464-1487).  What  the 
original  'chicken  cups'  were  like  I  confess  myself 
quite  unable  to  pronounce,  but  if  they  even  re- 
motely resembled  in  technique  the  daintily  painted 
I  egg-shell '  of  the  middle  eighteenth  century,  then 
in  our  attempt  to  identify  the  porcelain  of  early 
*  In  the  '  Cross  Cilleries  '  at  South  Kensington  may  be  seen 
what  is  doubtless  the  most  important  collection  in  Europe  of 
Chniese  porcelain  brought  from  Persia,  and  here  the  curious 
mmghng  of  types  in  the  shapes  and  decorations  may  be  best 
studied. 


Qhinese  Knamelled  Porcelain 

Ming  times  we  are  upon  a  hopelessly  wrong  tack. 
In  many  cases  the  eighteenth-century  potter  seems 
to  have  thought  that  he  had  made  sufficient  sacri- 
fice to  the  spirit  of  antiquity  when  he  had  placed 
the  name  of  a  Ming  emperor  on  the  base  of  his 
vase  or  plate — Cheng-hua  or  Cheng-te  for  prefer- 
ence. The  name  seems  to  have  been  for  the  most 
part  selected  quite  at  random,  and  with  little  or 
no  relation  to  the  class  of  ware  known  to  have 
been  produced  at  the  earlier  date.  But  note  that 
the  name  of  W^an-li  is  never  thus  employed,  nor 
that  of  his  immediate  predecessor.  Lung-king.  It 
thus  happens  that,  apart  from  Japanese  wares, 
when  one  of  these  names  is  found  on  a  piece  of 
porcelain,  we  can  safely  pronounce  the  specimen 
to  date  from  the  late  sixteenth  or  early  seventeenth 
century.     This  at  least  is  soinething  gained. 

To  return  to  our  polychrome  porcelain — '  poly- 
chrome '  is  here  a  convenient  expression,  for  it 
covers  what  I  have  called  '  painted  glazes '  as  well 
as  true  enamels.  I  have  so  far  ignored  the  existence 
of  enamelled  porcelain  previous  to  the  time  of 
Wan-li.  Now  what  do  our  authorities  tell  us  as 
to  the  time  and  manner  of  origin  of  all  such  early 
wares  ?  To  say  the  truth  they  all  sound  an  uncer- 
tain note — I  had  almost  said  that  they  discover  a 
tendency  to  trim  or  '  hedge '  on  this  point.  Thus 
in  the  British  Museum,  on  one  of  the  cautiously 
worded  notices  that  so  carefully  guide  us  through  that 
most  instructive  of  all  collections  of  oriental  porce- 
lain, we  are  informed  that  '  it  is  doubtful  whether 
any  porcelain  was  painted  in  colours  over  the  glaze 
before  Wan-li.'  There  is  here,  it  is  true,  a  reserve 
— but  a  very  gentle  one.  On  the  other  hand  with 
regard  to  that  most  supremely  interesting  vase  with 
both  turquoise  and  green  enamels  over  the  glaze 
and  cobalt  blue  under  it  (No.  i  of  the  coloured 
plate  in  the  April  number)  the  label  attached  allows 
it  to  be  '  possibly  of  the  date '  indicated  by  the 
inscription  on  the  base.  Now  this  elaborately 
enamelled  vase  bears  the  date  mark  of  Cheng-hua, 
an  emperor  who  flourished  as  far  back  as  the 
fifteenth  century.  We  are  thus  left  in  suspense  on 
this  burning  question.  Let  us  then  turn  to  what 
we  may  regard  as  our  safest  and  most  trustworthy 
guide  in  all  that  relates  to  oriental  porcelain — the 
introduction  that  Dr.  Bushell  has  written  for  his 
catalogue  of  the  Walters  collection.  Here,  on 
p.  239,  we  find  the  statement  :  '  The  rare  pieces 
decorated  in  colour  before  this  time  \i.c.,  Wan-li 
(1572-1619)]  were  inlaid  on  it  (the  biscuit)  with 
.  .  .  coloured  glazes ' — that  is  to  say,  they  are  all  to 
be  classed,  not  in  any  sense  as  enamelled  wares, 
but  as  belonging  to  our  group  of  '  painted  glazes.' 
If,  however,  in  the  same  work  we  now  turn  to  the 
description  of  some  of  the  pieces  of  early  Ming 
porcelain  that  were  in  the  collection  of  Tsu-ching, 
we  have  the  clear  indication  of  a  ware  elaborately 
decorated  with  designs  in  colour,  of  what  in  fact 
can    be  nothing  else  than    enamelled    porcelain. 


7S 


Qhinese  Enamelled  T*orcelain 

Tsu-ching  drew  up  the  illustrated  catalogue  of  his 
collection,  so  freely  quoted  by  Dr.  Bushell,  towards 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century — tiiat  is  to  say,  in 
the  reign  of  Wan-li.°  Many  of  these  decorated 
specimens  are  attributed  by  the  Chinese  connoisseur 
who  describes  and  figures  them  to  the  time  of 
Cheng-hua  and  even  earlier  reigns.  Now  Dr. 
Bushell  appears  to  place  implicit  confidence  in  the 
competence  and  honesty  of  this  old  Ming  collector. 
On  the  other  hand  I  find  that  some  of  those  who 
write  with  authority  (in  America  especially)  treat  this 
Tsu-ching  as  a  '  fascinating  romancer  '  and  do  not 
hesitate  to  declare  that  the  illustrations  in  the 
original  catalogue  (now  destroyed),  when  not 
evolved  from  his  imagination,  were  copies  of  con- 
temporary objects — i.e.,  they  were  Wan-li  enamels. 

So  far  then  it  would  seem  that  both  the  evidence 
from  extant  examples  as  well  as,  on  the  whole, 
the  opinion  of  our  best  authorities  would  point  to 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  as  the  date 
when  coloured  enamels  were  first  applied  to  their 
porcelain  by  the  Chinese  potters.  And  yet  it 
must  be  confessed  that  there  are,  on  the  one  hand, 
individual  examples  of  coloured  enamels,  some 
of  them  of  archaic  aspect,  for  which  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  place  among  the  wares  of  Wan-li, 
and  on  the  other  hand  there  are  references  in  the 
Chinese  books  to  elaborately  decorated  examples  of 
porcelain,  described  as  characteristic  ware  of  early 
Ming  emperors,  references  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  interpret  as  descriptions  of  ware  of 
the  '  painted  glaze  '  class. 

Of  the  examples  of  early  enamelled  ware  for  which 
it  is  difficult  to  find  a  place  and  a  date,  I  will  only 
mention — (i)  A  bowl  of  a  distinctly  archaic  aspect 
in  the  Salting  collection  (Plate  ii),  on  which,  besides 
an  under-glaze  decoration  of  fishes  in  full  copper- 
red  (the  presence  of  this  colour  would  alone  point 
to  an  early  date),  we  find  an  over-glaze  design  of 
other  fishes  painted  in  iron-red,  two  shades  of  green, 
a  brownish  purple,  and  finally  a  cobalt  blue  of  a 
poor  lavender  tint.  This  bowl  bears  the  date-mark 
of  Cheng-te  (1505-152 1).  There  is  nothing  to 
lead  one  to  think  that  the  over-glaze  colours 
were  added  at  a  later  date  than  the  under-glaze 
copper-red.  The  close  resemblance  of  the  design  to 
that  on  the  famous  bowl  in  the  possession  of  the 
Trenchard  family  should  not  be  overlooked.  This 
is  the  piece  of  Chinese  blue  and  white  porcelain 
which,  it  is  claimed,  was  given  to  Sir  Thomas 
Trenchard  by  Philip  the  father  of  Charles  V,  as 
long  ago  as  1506.  (Figured  in  Gulland's  'Oriental 
China,'  Vol.  ii.)  (2)  The  baluster-shaped  vase  in  the 
British  Museum  (with  the  date-mark  of  Cheng-hua) 
to  which  I  have  already  referred  (see  plate  in  last 
number).  In  this  case  the  noticeable  point,  from  a 
technical  point  of  view,  is  the  co-existence,  over  the 
glaze,  of  a  turquoise  blue  and  a  leafy  green,  colours 

'I  refer  to  the  famous  'Bushell  MS.'  See  'Oriental  Porcelain,' 
passim, 

76 


that  in  later  days  are  rarely  found  in  combination. 
(3)  Certain  remarkable  pieces  in  the  Grandidier 
collection  now  in  the  Louvre.  Concerning  these, 
I  unfortunately  have  not  at  hand  any  definite  notes, 
but  of  the  same  general  type  is  a  vase  at  South 
Kensington  of  which  I  give  an  illustration  (Plate  i). 
On  this  carefully  potted  vase  the  under-glaze  blue 
is  predominant  in  the  floral  decoration,  which  takes 
a  form  somewhat  unusual  in  Chinese  art.  Among 
the  other  colours  of  the  pentad,  a  pale  lavender  or 
lilac  gives  a  cachet  to  the  general  effect.  This  colour 
is  applied  to  the  petals  of  a  peculiar  flower,  with 
trailing  stem,  that  is  characteristic  of  this  ware. 

No  one  of  these  pieces  has  apparently  any  relation 
to  the  definitely  fixed  types  of  Wan-li  enamel  that 
I  have  described  above.  Nor  again  are  the 
examples  related  to  one  another  to  form  a  group 
by  themselves.  Unless  it  be  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Salting's  bowP  (Plate  ii),  which  may  indeed  well 
be  of  the  date  indicated  by  the  inscription,  they 
do  not  fit  in  with  any  idea  that  we  can  form  of  the 
enamelled  ware  made  before  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  style  of  the  decoration  and 
the  comparative  excellence  of  the  potting  have 
nothing  in  common  with  the  well-known  ware  of 
Wan-li.  Perhaps  the  most  reasonable  plan  would 
be  to  attribute  these  exceptional  examples  of 
enamelled  porcelain  to  the  early  years  of  Kang-he 
(say  from  1680  to  1690')  when  Lang  Ting-tso  or 
another  was  making  his  famous  s^/i^-^t'-^a';// vases. 
We  may  regard  this  as  the  earliest  stage  of  the  great 
revival,  and  it  was  doubtless  a  time  of  experiments. 
At  any  rate  we  have  no  other  class  of  enamelled 
porcelain  that  can  be  definitely  attributed  to  this 
period. 

I  will  now  say  a  word  as  to  the  sources  from 
which  the  Chinese  derived  their  knowledge  of 
polychrome  decoration.  Before  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  the  Chinese  were  masters  of  the 
use  of  cobalt-blue  and  copper-red  applied  upon 
the  unbaked  porcelain  and  subsequently  covered 
with  a  refractory  {i.e.,  non-plumbaginous)  glaze. 
Now  already  by  this  time  in  the  West  complete 
command  had  been  attained  of  processes  of 
decoration  which  depended  upon  the  tinting  of 
a  colourless,  readily  fusible  silicate  of  lead  by 
means  of  various  metallic  oxides.  This  decoration 
took  two  forms  :  (i)  the  lead  flux  was  applied  in 
various  ways  to  the  surface  of  metal  to  produce  the 
cloisonne  and  champlevc  enamels  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Western  peoples  ;  (2)  the  flux  was  applied 
either  as  a  bead-like  decoration  or  painted  over  the 
surface  of  glass  vessels  on  the  enamelled  lamps  and 

«  I  have  perhaps  not  given  a  place  of  sufficient  importance  in 
my  argument  to  this  remarkable  bowl.  It  is  the  only  example 
of  enamelled  porcelain  I  know  of  in  English  collections  to  which 
a  date  earlier  th:in  Wan-li  can  be  positively  assigned.  Obviously 
of  later  date,  at  least  in  my  opinion,  is,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
vase  with  llie  Cheng-hua  mark. 

'  Possibly  a  few  years  earlier.  See  note  i,  in  the  first  part  of 
this  paper. 


beakers  of  the  Saracens.  This  last  method  of  decora- 
tion is  closely  allied  in  technique  to  the  application 
of  enamels  over  the  glaze  of  porcelain.  Already 
before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  this 
process  had  been  brought  to  great  perfection  ; 
indeed,  it  had  by  that  time  reached  a  stage  of 
development  equivalent  to  that  of  the  enamels  on 
the  finest  porcelain  of  the  time  of  Kang-he.  There 
is  some  evidence  that  examples  of  this  enamelled 
glass  had  already  in  early  Ming  days  found  their 
way  through  to  Western  China,  starting  probably 
from  Samarkand.  Other  specimens  may  have 
been  brought  to  Chinese  ports  in  the  dhows  of 
the  Arab  merchants.  And  yet,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, it  has  so  far  been  impossible  to  find  any 
intermediate  link  connecting  this  Saracenic  glass 
with  the  earliest  enamelled  porcelain  of  the  Far 
East.  Quite  otherwise  is  it  when  we  come  to  the 
other  application  of  coloured  lead  fluxes.  The 
Chinese  themselves  acknowledge  the  foreign  origin 
of  their  cloisonne  and  chaniplcvc  enamels.  Every- 
thing points  to  their  introduction  towards  the  close 
of  the  Mongol  dynasty,  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
But  it  was  not  probably  until  the  middle  of  the 
next  century  that  these  enamels  were  generally 
known.  It  is  the  Ching-tai  period  (1450-56)  that 
has  given  them  their  Chinese  name. 

Now  it  was  probably  about  this  time — whether 
before  or  after  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century 
is  uncertain — that  the  first  attempts  were  made  at 
the  decoration  of  porcelain,  not  indeed  yet  with 
true  enamels  but  with  glazes  of  more  than  one 
colour.  Again,  it  was  at  this  period,  it  would 
seem,  that  lead  was  for  the  first  time  employed  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  glaze.  Of  this  early  type 
of  polychrome  Ming  porcelain  I  have  no  space  to 
speak  at  large.  It  takes  many  forms  ;  but  what  is 
above  all  characteristic  of  it  is  that  the  decoration 
is,  as  a  rule,  more  or  less  in  relief.  In  what  appear 
to  be  the  oldest  examples  the  colours  are  applied 
to  the  recesses  of  what  may  be  called  countersunk 
cloisons  with  definite  margins  of  greater  or  less 
projection.  The  ground  is  generally  blue,  either 
of  a  deep  tint  or  turquoise,  and  the  colours 
in  the  cloisons  are  confined  to  turquoise,  pale 
yellow  and  manganese  purple.  We  have  here 
the  earliest  form  of  the  san-tsai  or  triad  of  colours 
(PI.  iii).  The  use  of  these  colours  and  the 
presence  of  lead  necessitated  the  employment  of 
an  entirely  new  process  of  manufacture.  The 
flux-like  glaze  was  painted  on  the  surface  of  the 
already  fired  biscuit,  and  the  subsequent  firing  was 
at  a  comparatively  gentle  heat.  A  distinctly 
Buddhist  type  prevails  in  the  decoration.  Indeed, 
there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  this  polychrome 
ware  was  first  employed  for  figures  of  Buddhist 
divinities,  coloured  in  imitation  of  still  earlier 
idols  of  lacquer  or  painted  wood.  In  the  case  of 
some  specimens  of  what  are,  apparently,  decora- 
tions for  the  walls  or  railings  behind  or  around 


Qhinese  Enamelled  Porcelain 

such  images,  the  porcelain  cloisons  are  nearly  an 
inch  in  depth  with  steep  ridges  between. 

This  biscuit-painted  ware  of  early  Ming  times 
took  also  another  form — one  which,  with  various 
modifications,  held  an  important  place  in  the 
ensuing  centuries.  On  the  small  objects — water- 
vessels,  pen-rests,  etc. — that  find  their  place  on  the 
writing-table  of  a  man  of  culture,  the  three  colours 
were,  in  the  first  instance,  painted  side  by  side, 
without  dividing  lines  or  shading.  At  a  later  date 
we  find,  traced  upon  iJie  glazed  surface,  accentuating 
the  design,  or  filling  the  plain  grounds,  outlines 
and  spiral  scrolls.  These  lines  are  painted  with  a 
brush  and  are  of  a  dark,  opaque,  purple  brown  ; 
their  presence  must  have  necessitated  a  third 
baking  in  some  kind  of  muffle.  In  any  case  we 
have  in  this  simple  brush  drawing  what  is  probably 
the  earliest  form  of  a  true  enamel  applied  over  the 
glaze.  We  may  compare  this  use  of  an  outlining 
in  dark  brown  with  the  shading  and  definition 
with  a  similar  material  upon  our  stained  glass 
windows  ^  It  is  of  this  glaze-painted  biscuit 
ware,  pencilled  with  a  manganese  brown  or, 
in  the  earlier  specimens,  quite  plain,  rather 
than  of  true  enamelled  porcelain,  that  we 
must  probably  think  when  we  read  descriptions 
of  the  various  elaborately  decorated  objects  that 
adorned  the  writing-table  of  a  man  of  letters  of 
Ming  times.*  When,  early  or  late  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  probably  under  foreign  influence,  true 
enamelled  wares  came  into  vogue,  this  painted 
biscuit  lost  favour.  Probably  only  coarsely  exe- 
cuted examples,  often  not  of  a  true  porcelain,  were 
turned  out ;  many  such  have  lately  been  imported 
and  are  now  classed  as  '  early  Ming  ware.'  Some 
of  these  coarsely  executed  inagots,  generally  painted 
in  various  shades  of  blue  and  purple,  with  the 
uncovered  biscuit  showing  in  places,  may  well 
date  from  the  '  intermediate  period  '  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  ;  others  may  be  quite  modern. 

When,  however,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  at  the  instigation  of  the  high-class  super- 
intendents sent  down  by  Kang-he,  the  great  revival 
was  brought  about  at  King-te-chen,  it  was  the 
earlier  painted  biscuit  rather  than  the  enamels  of 
Wan-li  that  nominally  served  as  models  where 
decoration  in  colour  was  desired.  But  for  all  that, 
the  advances  that  had  in  the  interval  been  made 
in  the  application  of  enamel  colours  over  the  glaze 
could  not  be  ignored,  and  the  result  was  a  kind  of 
compromise.  In  this  compromise  we  have,  it 
would  seem,  the  origin  of  what  is  upon  the  whole 
the  most  characteristic  among  the  varied  t}'pes  of 

I*  Indeed,  this  distinction  between  porcelain  with  painted 
glazes  and  that  truly  enamelled  runs  parallel  with  that  between 
the  stained  glass  of  Gothic  windows  and  the  Swiss  or  South 
German  enamelled  '  qrarries  '  of  the  sixteenth  century.  This 
holds  good  even  lor  the  dates. 

''The  two  small  water-vessels  illustrated  on  Plate  ii  are 
examples  of  the  san-tsai  painted  glazes  :  that  representing  the 
Chinese  poet,  Li  Tai-po,  is  pencilled  with  black  lines  and  scrolls  ; 
the  other,  with  the  carp,  is  plain. 


77 


Qhinese  Enamelled  Porcelain 

enamelled  porcelain  made  during  Kang-he's  reign. 
In  this  glorious  series  nothing  is  more  noticeable 
than  the  tendency  to  keep  to  the  simple  colours 
of  the  old  triad.  In  the  biscuit-painted  ware, 
which  now  takes  new  developments,  the  colours 
are  still  restricted  to  manganese  purple,  to  pale 
shades  of  yellow,  and  to  copper  blues  or  greens." 
These  blues  and  greens  are  now,  however,  never 
found  in  combination.  But  even  when  enamelhng 
over  the  glaze  is  freely  adopted,  we  find  that  on 
the  examples  of  the  highest  class— those  made  for 
imperial  use,  no  doubt— the  iron-red  characteristic 
of  Wan-li  times  is  sparingly  used  or  altogether 
dispensed  with.  So  of  the  under-glaze  cobalt — we 
do  not  find  it  on  the  finest  specimens.  In  this 
true  enamelled  ware  practical  considerations  neces- 
sitated the  replacement  of  the  turquoise  blue  of 
the  painted  biscuit  by  a  leafy  green  which  now 
becomes  the  dominant  colour. 

It  is  indeed  with  these  three  colours — copper 
green  (or  blue),  manganese  purple,  and  a  yellow 
derived  from  antimony  and  iron— that  many  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  the  arh  dn  fen  have  been 
attained,  and  this  not  in  China  only.  It  was  with 
these  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  coloured  their  little 
glass  unguentaria.  The  decoration  on  the  so-called 
mezza-majolica  of  the  fifteenth  century  is  practi- 
cally confined  to  these  colours,  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the  picturesque 
fayence  of  the  Mediterranean  basin.  I  have  before 
me  a  roughly  decorated  jug  of  '  Dardanelles'  pottery 
where  on  a  ground  of  a  pale  straw  yellow  is 
painted  a  design  of  a  leafy  green,  accentuated  here 
and  there  with  a  few  lines  and  patches  of  purple. 
In  this  rude  ware  the  colours  and  the  general 
scheme  of  decoration  are  identical  with  those 
employed  upon  some  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of 
the  potters  of  the  time  of  Kang-he.  Add  to  these 
simple  colours  a  cobalt  blue  and  reds  of  various 
shades,  derived  at  first  from  iron  and  later  from 
gold,  and  we  have  the  whole  gamut  of  colours  by 
means  of  which  such  surprising  effects  have  been 
attained  by  the  Chinese.  So  of  the  other  mis  dn 
fen — enamelling  on  metal,  for  instance.     In  these 

1"  The  green  variety  of  the  copper  silicate  applied  as  a  painted 
glaze  had,  no  doubt,  been  known  in  Ming  times. 


arts  the  use  of  the '  simple  palette  '  was,  fortunately 
for  those  that  practised  them,  a  stern  necessity. 

To  return  to  the  consideration  with  which  this 
inquiry  started.  Can  we  find  in  the  enamelled 
porcelain  of  the  sixteenth  century — what  we  gener- 
ally know  as  '  Ming  ' — anything  that  we  can  recog- 
nize as  of  a  stronger  or  '  fitter  '  type  than  the  well- 
known  wares  of  Kang-he's  time  ?  I  am  afraid  that 
the  answer  must  be  a  negative  one.  The  fact  is 
that  this  early  enamelled  porcelain  has  in  it  little 
that  is  characteristic  of  the  art  of  the  Ming  period. 
It  was  only  during  a  period  of  decadence  that  it  was 
produced  in  any  quantity,  and  much  of  it  bears 
traces  of  Indian  or  Persian  influence.  Wan-li  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  a  representative  emperor  of  the 
great  Ming  dynasty.  The  rich  and  deep  colouring 
that  is  so  often  found  on  the  paintings  and  on  the 
enamelled  metal  ware  of  this  period  finds  rather 
its  equivalent  in  that  other  class  of  polychrome 
porcelain,  what  I  have  called  the  glaze-painted 
biscuit,  with  its  recessed  cloisons  and  full  tints  of 
turquoise  and  purple. 

It  may  perhaps  be  desirable  briefly  to  recapitulate 
what  seems  to  be  the  outcome  of  this,  I  am  afraid, 
rather  tedious  inquiry.  It  was  in  the  form  of  glazes 
painted  over  the  biscuit  that  the  coloured  decora- 
tion of  the  flourishing  days  of  the  Ming  period 
was  applied.  Of  this  nature  must  have  been  the 
elaborate  decoration  for  which  the  Cheng-hua 
porcelain  was  noted.  Not  until  the  time  of  Cheng- 
te  (early  sixteenth  century)  were  these  enamels 
painted  over  the  glaze  of  porcelain,  at  first  rudely 
and  experimentally.  The  further  development  of 
the  process  under  Wan-li  was  never  regarded  with 
favour  by  the  cultured  classes,  but  during  the 
unruly  times  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  art  of 
enamelling  (chiefly  for  the  foreign  market)  had 
made  such  progress  that  when  the  great  reformers, 
under  Kang-he,  at  the  end  of  the  century,  wished 
to  return  to  the  earlier  and  to  them  more  sym- 
pathetic methods  of  decoration  they  were  fain  to 
avail  themseves  of  much  that  had  been  learned  in 
the  interval.  A  large  division  of  the  porcelain  of 
Kang-he,  including  what  are  artistically  the  most 
beautiful  specimens,  may  then  be  regarded  as  a 
compromise  between  the  two  systems. 


AN  UNKNOWN  PORTRAIT  BY  LOUIS  DAVID 
^  BY  CLAUDE  PHILLIPS  cK> 

ERE  is,  as  I  believe,  an  entirely 


in  his  cenv 
give  as  to 


re. 


unknown  portrait  by  Jacques 
Louis  David,  and  one  which,  as  I 
venture  to  assert,may  not  only  be 
put  down  to  him  with  something 
like  certainty,  but  may  even 
be,  without  undue  temerity, 
placed,  within  a  year  or  two, 
At  present  I  have  no  indication  to 


which  was  obtained  by  me  at  a  public  sale  in 
London,  the  catalogue,  so  far  as  I  can  remember, 
making  no  statement  as  to  the  person  represented, 
or  as  to  the  collection,  or  the  house,  whence  the 
picture  was  thrown  upon  the  troubled  sea  of  the 
auction-room.  Luckily,  it  carries  with  it  its  own 
credentials,  its  own  birth-marks,  and  by  no  student 
of  the  master's  portraiture  will,  I  imagine,  be 
questioned.     The  thin,  delicate,  firm,  perhaps  a 


the  provenance  of  this  Por/ra  (7  o/rt  Bo>',         little    over-finished    painting    of    the    face;    the 


78 


<'  >     i 


JAk  WITH  BLUE-BLACK  GROIXD.  IIECORATION  IN  KKLIEF,  SLU;HTLV 
COIXTEKSL'NK,  PALE  YELLOW  AND  GREENISH  BLl'E.  PRuBABLY 
XV    CENTURY.         1!Y     KIND     PERMISSION     t)F     MR.      CiEORGE     SALTING 


An  Unknown  Portrait  by  David 


beautiful    drawing    of    the   mouth,  the   nose,  the 
eyes,    the   fine   construction    of  the     head ;    the 
simple,  decisive   brush-work   in    the   white  linen 
pleats  of  the  soft  shirt  and  tie,  in  the  white  collar 
and  rcvers,  which  so  well  set  off  the  rose  and  grey 
tones  of   the   youthful  face — all  these   points   of 
technique  suggest  the  best  period  of  David's  prac- 
tice.    This  is  covered  by  that  momentous  time  in 
the  Revolution  which  extends  from  about    1790 
to  1800,  during  which  decade,  passing  with  what 
must,  on  the  whole,  be  deemed  singular  good  for- 
tune through  the  tremendous  vicissitudes  of  vol- 
canic years,  he  rose  to  an  absolute  dictatorship  of 
the  fine  arts,  and  in  his  own  domain  enjoyed  a 
supremacy  less  questioned  than  that  of  Napoleon 
himself.     The    great   technical    characteristic    of 
this  time  of  fresh  and  vigorous  maturity — I   refer 
to  the  portraits  only — is  the  vibriste  quality  of  the 
touch  in  the  background,  the  hair,  and  some  other 
passages.     And   with   this   go  the  simplicity,  the 
brightness,    the  assurance  without  affectation   of 
the  presentment,  the  joie  etc  vivre  that  is  still,   in 
a  sense,  of  the  late  eighteenth  century — the  time 
of    La   Tour   and    Peronneau,   of    Chardin    and 
Fragonard,  of  Drouais,  of  Madame  Vigee-Lebrun 
and  Madame  Labille-Guiard,     But  these  qualities 
are  present  without  its  too  evident  desire  to  please 
quand  uicme,  its  anxiety  to  express,  above  all,  grace, 
amiability,  sensibility.     This  peculiarity  of   tech- 
nique is  very  noticeable  in  the  Porlrait  of  a  Boy 
now  made  known,  especially  in  the  hair  and  back- 
ground, though  it  is  not  pushed  to  such  excess  as 
in  the   curious   (seemingly   unfinished)    Madame 
Chalgrin  of  the  Louvre,  a  painting  which  we  shall 
not  bj  wrong  in  ascribing  to  the  period  which 
closes   with   the    Madame   Rkamici:     David  the 
portraitist — and  it  is  with  him  alone  that  we  are 
concerned  on  the  present  occasion — is  through- 
out his  career  radiant  with  life  and  good  humour. 
A  paradoxical  statement,  it  will  be  said,  to  make 
as    to    the    alternately    morose    and    hysterically 
passionate  Jacobin,  who  afterwards  became   the 
dignified   chef  d'ecole,   the   dictator   from    whose 
word  there  was  no  appeal  in  any  matter  apper- 
taining to  the  theory  and  practice  of   art  !      But 
none  the   less   true.     In    such   early   pictures   as 
those  masterpieces   of  bourgeois  portraiture,  but 
not     bourgeois     art,     the    Madame    Pccoiil    and 
Monsieur  Pcconl   of    the    Louvre   (1783),     David 
shows   indeed  a   bonhomie  that  not    even    such 
predecessors    as    Chardin     and    Fragonard    ex- 
ceeded.    Fully   to    appreciate    his    triumph    one 
must  know  that  this  smiling,  exuberant  Madame 
Pecoul  was  the  painter's  bcllc-mcrc,  a  family  role 
much  more  important  and  more  ungrateful  than 
its    equivalent  in    English   home-life.      Learning 
this,  one  is  left  wondering  whether  ever  before  or 
since  an  artist  has  rendered   with    such   evident 
gusto,  nay,  with  such  sympathy  and  love,  a  lady 
standing    in   this  peculiar   and    difficult   relation 


to   him.     The   Lavoisier  and   his  Wife   (1787)    is 
one    of   the   most   charming   and   in    its   simple 
grace,  its   unforced   honucfete,  one   of  the    most 
moving  eighteenth-century  portraits  in  existence. 
On   the   other   hand,  the    Madame   Vigee-Lebrun 
in  the  Rouen  Gallery  is — an  absolute  exception  in 
this  respect— cold  and  mannered,  exhibiting  for 
once  the  side  of  eighteenth-century  art  which  to 
us  of  the  present  day  is  the  most  unsympathetic. 
One  can  only  surmise  that  ALadame  Vig^e-Lebrun's 
frigid  mannered  elegance  of  style  must,  for  once, 
have  been  adopted  by  the  portraitist  to  express  the 
not  less  frigid  and  self-conscious  elegance  of  her 
person.     Nothing  could  be  more  simple  or  more 
moving,  more  masterly  in  the  unforced  differen- 
tiation of  character,  more  expressive  of  the  joys 
and  the  burdens  of  paternity,  than  the  portrait- 
group  Michel  Gerard  et  sa  Famille  in  the  museum 
of    Le    Mans.     It    is    a    perfect    realization     of 
David's  conception  ;  that  of  I'homme  de  bicn  who 
has   shaken    from   his   shoulders    the   oppressive 
burdens  of  the  social  hierarchy,  and  is  free  to  show 
himself,    and     to     believe     himself,     Rousseau's 
natural  man,  with  whom  the  essential  principle  of 
good   radiates   unchecked   from    within.      What 
Gerard   was  in  reality  I   know  not ;  but  this   is 
what  David  most  convincingly  and   pathetically 
conveys   as   to    his   individuality    and     his    sur- 
roundings.   And  the  Marquise  d'Orvilliers  (1790), 
so  winning  in  the  perfect  insouciance  of  her  pose, 
in  the  rondeur,  both  physical  and  spiritual,  of  her 
aspect,  does  she  not  stand  at  the  parting  of   the 
ways,  with  just  a  touch — great  lady  as  she  is — of 
the   Revolution    in    her   characterization,    in    the 
sans-gcne  of  her  demeanour,  and  the  lack,  or  the 
suppression,    of    the    conventional   deportment  ? 
It  is  just  in  the  most  palpitating  moments  of  the 
Revolution — in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  and  in  the 
periods  which  prepared  and  immediately  followed 
it — that  the  peculiar  vibriste  technique,  the  vibrant 
touch     in     the     backgrounds,     becomes     most 
noticeable  :    as,  for  instance,  in  the  great  Marat 
of   the    Brussels   Gallery   (1793),   the    unfinished 
Joseph   Bara   of    the   Avignon    Museum    {1794), 
the  Madame  Chalgrin,  the  Portrait  of  the  Artist  in 
the   Louvre  (1794).     It  is   less  noticeable  in  the 
radiantly  fresh  and  youthful  Madame  Seriziat  of 
the     Louvre     (1795)    or    the    bright,    optimistic 
Monsieur  Seriziat  (1795)  which  hangs  as  its  pendant 
there,  but  most  noticeable  again  in  the  unfinished 
Madame   Rccamier,   that   famous  and  universally 
popular    portrait    which    rescued     David     from 
oblivion  even  at  a  time  when  his  greatest  works, 
such    as  the  Sacre,  were    forgotten,    or    wilfully 
ignored,   and   from   his   pseudo-classic   histories, 
his  pseudo-Roman  tragedies  in  paint,  the  art-lover 
turned — as  more  respectfully  but  not  less  decidedly 
he  does  still — in  sad  and  sick  disdain,  or  at  the  best 
in  weariness  and  regret.     All  the  same,  I  must  not 
be  taken  to  suggest  that  this  vibrant  touch  is  to  be 

81 


An  Unknown  Tortrait  by  TDavid 


accounted  for  wholly,  or  even  principally,  by  the 
passion  of  the  moment,  or  the  passion  of  the 
artist.  As  a  fact  it  is  to  be  noted  chiefly  in  the 
simpler,  the  more  intimate  productions  of  the 
revolutionary  period — the  portraits  just  now  men- 
tioned ;  but  also,  as  should  not  be  forgotten,  in  the 
greatest  and  most  deeply  felt  production  of  David's 
brain  and  brush,  the  Marat,  as  well  as  in  the 
works  which  group  most  naturally  with  it.  For 
once,  and  once  only,  the  master,  forgetting  his 
pseudo-classicism,  his  Greeks  and  Romans — as 
unlike  those  of  antiquity  as  even  the  Louis-Quator- 
zian  Greeks  and  Romans  were,  but  of  a  wholly 
different  unlikeness — brought  forth  in  the  Marat 
a  work  truly  classical  in  spirit,  because  it  was  the 
result  of  greatness  of  vision  and  greatness  of  emo- 
tion, because  it  was  a  generalized  and  thus  the  more 
deeply  significant  statement  of  the  higher  and 
more  essential  truth.  Another  memorial  picture, 
the  portrait  after  death  of  Lepelletier  de  Saint- 
Fargeau,  who  was  assassinated  a  few  months  before 
the  '  arch-patriot '  fell,  was  marked  by  a  sculptural 
grandeur  of  conception  and  arrangement  to  which, 
in  the  Marat,  David  did  not  aspire  in  the  same 
degree,  but  fell  short  of  it  in  tragic  force  and 
poignancy  of  truth.  The  Lepelletier  de  Saiiit- 
Fargean  has  disappeared,  and  in  all  probability 
no  longer  exists;  it  is  represented  now  only  by 
Tardieu's  engraving,  of  which  a  single  example 
exists  in  the  Cabinet  des  Estampes.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  the  vibriste  technique  in  the  back- 
ground—the frottis  leger,  as  the  French  bio- 
graphers of  David  call  it— is  to  be  found  chiefly, 
as  might  be  expected,  in  the  less  laboriously 
finished  works ;  but  that  it  marks  also  these  painted- 
poems  of  republican  ardour  and  devotion,  of 
which  a  third,  the  Joseph  Bara,  of  the  Avignon 
Museum,  is  nowto  be  mentioned.  Here  we  have,  in 
a  simplified  and  poetized  form,  the  heroic  action 
of  the  drummer-boy,  Joseph  Bara,  who  died,  at 
the  age  of  thirteen,  a  dauntless  champion  of  the 
Republic,  pressing  to  his  heart  the  cockade  with 
the  national  colours.  This  sketch— or  rather 
cbauche,  which  is  not  quite  the  same  thing— stands 
wholly  apart  from  all  else  in  the  life-work  of  the 
master,  not  only  by  reason  of  the  caressing  touch, 
the  exquisite  purity  of  draughtsmanship  with 
which  the  slender  yet  rounded  nudity  of  childhood 
IS  rendered,  but  in  the  infinite  tenderness  of  the 
conception.  The  pseudo-classic  rigidity  of  the 
austere  Jacobin,  who  so  vainly  sought  to  revive 
antiquity,  with  its  cardinal  principles,  those  of 
life  and  truth,  left  out,  here  lets  his  heart— the 
heart  of  the  patriot  but  also  of  the  father— speak 
without  phrase,  without  false-tragic  emphasis. 
And  this  brings  me  back  in  somewhat  roundabout 
fashion  to  the  Portrait  of  a  Boy  which  is  the  main 
subject  of  this  note.  For,  with  no  special  fact, 
pictorial  or  documentary,  to  support  me,  I  venture 
upon  the  suggestion  that  we  have  here  one  of  the  sons 

82 


of  the  painter,  and  that  the  Joseph  Bara  represents 
the  same  youth,  or  it  may  be  his  brother,  in  an 
earlier  stage  of  adolescence.  As  we  learn  from  the 
laborious  compiled  work  'Le  Peintre  Louis  David: 
Souvenirs  et  Documents,'  by  the  master's  grandson, 
Jules  David,  he  married  in  1782,  and  had  two  sons, 
Charles-Louis-Jules,  born  on  the  15th  February, 
1783,  and  Francois-Eugene,  born  on  the  15th 
April,  1784.  The  elder  of  these  boys,  and  the 
more  staid,  became  a  bureaucrat  of  the  most 
correct  and  serious  type ;  he  rose  to  be  soiis-prefet, 
and  would  have  gone  higher  still  but  for  the 
Restoration.  The  younger,  the  more  impetuous 
and  the  less  applique,  enlisted  in  1804,  and  valiantly 
climbing  from  one  grade  to  another,  as  was  the 
fashion  in  those  days  of  passionate  enthusiasm  and 
swift  advancement,  was,  at  the  moment  of  those 
calamitous  Cf/z/yoz/rs  which  shattered  the  fortunes 
of  the  whole  David  family,  chef  d'escadron  in  the 
Cuirassiers. 

There  is  no  record  in  Jules  David's  'Souvenirs 
et  Documents '  of  any  portrait  of  either  of  these 
sons,  whether  in  youth  or  manhood,  except  the  one 
entry  in  the  catalogue  (comprising  both  works 
extant  and  works  indicated  in  the  notes  or  corre 
spondence) — '  Jules  David,  son  iils  a  I'age  de  5  ans' 
(in  the  possession  of  Baron  Jerome  David).  And 
this  helps  us  not  at  all,  since  the  handsome  youth 
of  my  picture  is  at  least  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of 
age.  Two  excellent  biographies  of  the  master 
have  appeared  lately :  one  that  of  M.  Ltion 
Rosenthal  in  the  series  '  Les  Maitres  de  I'Art,'  the 
other  that  of  M.  Charles  Saunier  in  the  series 
'  Les  Grands  Artistes.'  But  neither  adds 
anything  material  to  our  scanty  stock  of  facts  as 
to  missing  portraits  or  other  works.  Indeed,  the 
indications  given  in  the  earlier  biography, 
compiled  from  family  records,  are  the  fuller  in  this 
respect,  as  giving  several  portraits  incidentally 
mentioned  in  the  notes  of  the  painter  but  now  no 
longer  to  be  traced. 

There  is  so  much  assurance  combined  with  so 
much  modesty,  so  great  a  promise  of  vitality 
and  of  imaginative  energy  in  the  face  of  this 
boy,  that  I  should  be  inclined  to  look  upon 
the  portrait  as  that  of  the  second  son,  the 
future  soldier,  the  valiant  chef  d'escadron  to  be. 
That  this  is  Dichtung,  in  which  there  may  or  may 
not  be  the  germs  of  Wahrheit,  I  know  full  well. 
And  yet  I  send  forth  my  conjecture  for  what  it  is 
worth  :  in  these  matters  it  is  a  case  of  nothing 
venture,  nothing  gain.  Moreover — and  this  is  more 
risky  still — I  should  like  to  think  that  the  beautiful 
adolescent  nude  in  the  Joseph  Bara  had  been 
studied — and,  after  all,  what  is  more  probable? — 
from  the  one  or  the  other  son.  The  age  of  the 
drummer-boy  at  the  time  of  his  glorious  martyrdom 
was,  as  I  have  already  stated,  thirteen  years  ;  but 
the  dead  child  in  the  picture — a  broken  lily  lovelier 
still    in  death — looks  younger  by  a  year  or  two. 


An  Unknown  Tortrait  by  T>avid 


And   tlie   one  son  would  have   been  eleven,  the 
other  ten,  when  the  study  in  the  Avignon  Museum 
was  painted  to  express  the  grief  of  a  nation  at 
this  ruthless  sweep  of  the  scythe,  cutting  off  the 
flower  just  as  in  fairest  promise  it  Hfted  its  head 
from  the  earth.  The  second  son,  Frangois-Eugene, 
would  have  been  exactly  fifteen  in  1799 — the  year 
which  preceded  that  to  which  the  Madame  Rccamier 
is  assigned  ;   and  this  is  exactly  the  moment  to 
which,   judging  by  the  peculiar  technique  of  the 
Portrait  of  a  Boy,  I  should  be  inclined  to  assign 
it.      The   Madame   Rc'camicr,   if   pushed   a   stage 
farther,  would  have  been  well-nigh  identical,  as 
regards    execution,    with    my    picture.     Whether 
the  world  would  have  gained  by  such  a  transforma- 
tion of  an  incomparable  cbauche,  complete  in  its 
essentials,  into  a  finished   painting  is  a  question 
which  every  man  may  safely  be  left  to  solve  for 
himself.     It  will  be  seen  that  at  any  rate  there  are 
some  strong  points  in  favour  of  my  conjecture ; 
that  it  is   not  altogether  what  the  Germans   call 
J  caught  out  of  the  air.'     Here  then   I  must  leave 
it  for  the  present,  content  to  have  made  known  the 
existence  of  a  charming  picture  and  genuine  David. 
The  joic  dc  vivrc,  the  peculiar  radiance  of  vitality 
in   the  portraits  of  this    master,  is  akin   to,   and 
yet   essentially  different  from,    that    of    his    pre- 
decessors in  the  eighteenth    century.      It  is    not 
the   exuberant  life-force  that  cries  out  aloud   in 
Hogarth,  and  must  have  its  ebb  and  flow  like  the 
sea ;  it  is  not  the  momentariness,  the  rush  and 
flutter  of  Reynolds,  or  the  febrile  passion,  beneath 
modishness  and   the  desire  to  please,  of   Gains- 
borough.    Again,  it  is  not  the  flashing  brightness 
of  La  Tour,  with  its  subtle  touch  of  cynicism  and 
disillusion  beneath    the   smile ;  nor   the   resolute 
optimism  and  serene  courage  of  Chardin  ;  nor  the 
weaker   brightness  of    Drouais,  that  suggests  no 
life  below  that  which  is  lived  for  the  gallery,  when 


the  lights  are  turned  on  to  the  full.  David's 
joic  dc  vivrc,  the  vital  force  that  emanates  from  his 
finest  creations  in  portraiture,  is  a  steadv,  clear, 
evenly  radiating  light— a  trifle  cold,  perhaps,  in  its 
brightness,  yet,  for  all  that,  of  singular  and 
enduring  power.  What  better  instances  could  I 
desire  in  support  of  this  attempt  of  mine  to  define 
it  than  the  Madame  Pcconl,  the  Marquise  dVri- 
villicrs,  the  Madame  Seriziat  d.nd  Monsieur  Scriziat, 
the  Madauie  Recauner  ;  what  better  or  more  com- 
prehensive instance,  indeed,  than  the  whole  great 
canvas  of  the  Sacre  dc  I'lmperatrice  Josephine,  in 
which  the  modern  master— for  this  once  the 
emulator  in  realistic  truth  lifted  half-way  to  the 
ideal,  in  composure  and  in  grandeur,  of  Ghirlandajo 
himself— has  produced  his  masterpiece  both  as 
portraitist  and  painter  of  national  epics  ? 

In  the  portrait-pieces  where  the  child  appears, 
still  sheltering  in  the  skirts  of  the  mother,  as  in 
the  Madame  Scriziat ;  or  a  little  later  as  the  boy, 
the  youth  to  whom  the  father  gives  his  whole 
being,  as  in  the  wonderfully  pathetic  Michel  Gerard 
et  sa  Fantille  ;  or  again  when  it  appears  alone,  as 
in  the  Joseph  Bara,  or  this  Portrait  of  a  Bo\—'m 
these,  then,  there  is  something  more  than  a 
steady  current  of  vital  force.  There  is  life- 
giving  warmth,  the  pulsation  of  love — as  there 
is  the  pulsation  of  patriotic  passion  in  the  Marat 
and  the  LepeUeticr  de  Saiut-Far^eau.  And  then 
it  is  that  the  austere  republican,  the  supreme 
pontiff  of  the  pseudo-classic,  subdued,  melted  to 
warmth  and  passionate  sympathy  by  the  vivifying 
stream  that  will  not  be  resisted,  is  at  his  greatest 
and  best.  It  is  then  that  he  stands  forth  a  master 
who,  victorious  once  more,  reoccupies  and  will 
maintain  his  commanding  place,  that  no  other  fills 
in  exactly  the  same  way,  at  the  point  of  junction 
of  the  eighteenth  century  with  the  nineteenth— at 
the  meeting  of  the  old  world  with  the  new. 


MR.   HORNE'S  BOOK  ON  BOTTICELLI 
^  BY  ROGER  E.  FRY  ^ 

T  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that 
since  the  study  of  Renaissance 
art  began   to  assume  systematic 


orm  in  the  early  nineteenth 
century  until  the  present  day, 
nothing  has  been  produced  quite 
comparable  to  Mr.  Home's  new 
work."  It  has  the  monumental 
appearance  and  the  dignity  of  style  of  a  work  of 
the  Renaissance  itself.  It  has  the  breadth  of 
manner,  the  leisurely  exposition,  and,  let  us  admit, 
demands  from  the  reader  the  same  quiet  persistence 
of  attention  as  some  folio  by  Casaubon  or  Diodati. 
Its  author  has  determined  to  combine  with  the 

>  '  Alessandro  ■  Filipepi,  commonly  c.illed  Sandro  Botticelli, 
lainter  of  1-lorence.'  By  Herbert  P,  Home.  London  :  G.  Bell 
and  Sons.     1908.    ^10  los. 


utmost  rigour  of  modern  scientific  methods  in 
research,  a  manner  which  is  no  longer  in  vogue — 
the  manner  and  style  of  the  period  on  which  he 
has  so  long  brooded  and  in  which  he  has 
imaginatively  lived  for  many  years.  Hence  he 
discards  as  modern  toys  all  those  methods  of 
abbreviation  and  co-ordination  of  the  material, 
which  writers  have  gradually  elaborated  for  the 
greater  ease  of  exposition  and  as  aids  to  appre- 
hension. 

All  that  apparatus  for  emphasizing  and  grouping 
information  which  finds  its  fullest  development 
in  the  halfpenny  'yellow'  journal,  but  which 
permeates  to  some  extent  all  our  literature,  is 
here  cast  aside.  Either  a  thing  is  worth  saying  or 
it  is  not.  If  it  is  worth  saying,  it  is  in  the  book  ; 
if  it  is  not,  it  is  excluded — but  there  is  no  inter- 

83 


Air.  Home's  Book  on  Botticelli 


mediate  class,   everything   is  here   on   the   same 
footing.     There  are   no   notes,  no  headings,   no 
chapters,    no   index.     All   the   knowledge   about 
Botticelli  that  Mr.  Home  has  accumulated  in  years 
of  patient  study  is  here  poured  out  in  one  con- 
tinuous and  equable  stream.    That  such  a  method 
conduces  immensely  to  the  beauty  of  the  book  no 
one  who  opens  this  work  can  deny.      Few  books 
of   any   kind,    certainly   no  works  of  art  history, 
have  been  produced  with  such  dignity  and  style. 
There   is   nothing,  let  us  hasten  to  add,  of   the 
cdllion    de  luxe  about   this ;    all    is   reasonable, 
moderate,  well  considered.     It  has  indeed  such  a 
form  as  any  serious  and  elaborate  book  on  any 
subject  might  suitably  display.    Mr.  Home  is  an 
expert  in  all  that  relates  to  the  art  of  printing,  so 
that  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  the  book  are  not 
matter  for  surprise.     It  may  seem,  indeed,  unne- 
cessary to  insist  at  length  on  the  externals  of  Mr, 
Home's  book,  but  it  is  symptomatic  of  his  whole 
attitude.    And  that  is  the  attitude  of  pure  science 
as  regards  the  matter  and  pure  art  as  regards  the 
presentment.     The   art    critic   as   a   rule   adopts 
neither  of  these  attitudes  altogether.     Indeed,  one 
scarcely  recognizes  the  art  critic  in  Mr.   Home. 
He  gives  but  little  hint  of  any  personal  views  on 
aesthetics  in  general ;  his  technical  terms  are  such 
as  Vasari    himself   might  have  used,  or  at  least 
would  have  perfectly  understood  ;  there  is  little, 
indeed,  in  his  appreciation  of  Botticelli  which  is 
not  taken  from  the  criticism  of  Botticelli's  own  con- 
temporaries, most  of  all  from  a  certain  agent  of 
the  duke  of  Milan,  who  mentions  the  characteristic 
of  Botticelli  as  the  aria  virile,  the  virile  air  of  his 
figures.     By  insisting  on  that  simple  phrase  as  a 
counteraction  to  the  modern  idea  of  Botticelli  as 
a  languid  sentimentalist  Mr.  Home  endeavours  to 
get  his  artist  seen  in  true  perspective,  and  is  content 
to  leave   it  there.     That   he  has  a  fine  sense  of 
artistic  quality  is  made  evident  in  a  hundred  ways 
throughout  the  book,  that  he  is  nicely  critical  is 
seen  by  the  relative  values  he  gives  to  different 
works  of  art ;  but  he  is  not  a  critic  in  the  modern 
sense  at  all.     That  is  to  say,  he  is  either  incapable 
or  contemptuous  of  all  that  delicate  analysis  of 
the  spiritual  and  temperamental  components  of  a 
work  of  art,  all  that  subtle  exposition  of  the  artist's 
intention,  that  illustration  of  the  work  of  art  by 
means  of  analogy  and  simile,  which  make  up  so 
large  a  part  of  the  best  modern  critical  literature, 
and  which  the  French  in  particular  have  cultivated 
so   brilliantly.     Mr.    Home   confines    himself   in 
effect  to  an  almost  Vasarian  simplicity  of  state- 
ment.   '  It  is,  indeed,  as  well  done  as  it  is  possible 
to  miagine  '—to  phrases  almost  as  simpleas  this  Mr. 
Home  reduces  all  our  elaborate  modern  apparatus. 
There  is  something  bracing  in  this  austerity,  and 
much  truth  in  the  implied  condemnation  of  a  great 
deal  of  this  criticism  as  too  fine  drawn,  too  theo- 
retical, and  too  liable  to  personal  bias. 

84 


But  if  Mr.  Home  stints  us  in  this  direction,  he 
is  generous  to  lavishness  in  another.  '  What  is  it,' 
he  says  on  p.  52,  '  that  we  really  know  about 
Simonetta  ?  '  '  What  is  it  that  we  really  know  ?  ' 
is  the  question  always  in  Mr.  Home's  mind,  and 
no  efforts  are  spared  either  in  the  task  of  sweeping 
away  superincumbent  guesswork  or  in  finding  out 
through  documents  what,  in  fact,  we  really  know. 
And  in  that  search  no  fact  seems  to  Mr.  Home  too 
minute  to  merit  our  attention,  too  insignificant  to 
help  towards  that  complete  reconstruction  of  the 
past  of  Florence  of  which  he  perpetually  dreams. 
Indeed,  so  comprehensive  and  so  minutely  exact 
is  his  knowledge  of  that  artist's  life  in  fifteenth- 
century  Florence  that  there  is  scarcely  any  fact 
but  arouses  in  his  mind  some  complementary 
detail,  and  so  helps  to  fill  out  the  ouUines  of 
already  accumulated  knowledge. 

It  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  such  antiquarian 
and  scientific  fervour  as  Mr.  Home  displays  leads 
him  at  times  to  dilate  at  length  upon  points  which 
to  one  less  steeped  in  the  local  records  seem 
almost  tedious.  Mr.  Home  never  abbreviates  ;  he 
seems  always  to  have  in  view  the  future  historian, 
whose  gratitude  he  will  earn  by  the  fullness  and 
accuracy  of  his  descriptions,  but  whom  he  will 
assuredly  puzzle  by  the  strange  incompatibility  of 
the  date  on  his  title-page  with  some  of  the  sayings 
in  the  book.  Thus  we  find  him  in  one  passage 
anticipating  Mr.  Berenson's  book  on  Florentine 
drawings,  which  has  been  given  to  the  world  now 
some  years.  In  another  passage  we  find  him 
hoping  that  the  clue  to  Signorelli's  Pan  may 
yet  be  discovered.  This  was  published  in  the 
'Monthly  Review'  for  December,  1901.  Such 
slight  inaccuracies  as  these  are  the  penalties  which 
Mr.  Home  pays  for  the  deliberation  and  leisure 
with  which  he  has  carried  through  his  great  work. 
But  who  will  venture  to  blame  him  for  the  imper- 
turbable serenity,  the  deliberate  ponderation,  which 
have  gone  to  its  composition,  and  which  make 
it  so  remarkable,  so  distinguished  among  the 
cruder  and  more  hasty  efforts  of  contemporary 
criticism  ? 

What,  then,  do  we  really  know  of  Botticelli  ? 
The  answer  is — Mr.  Home's  book,  which  may  be 
regarded  as,  so  far  as  such  a  thing  is  possible, 
definitive.  Of  entirely  new  matter  there  is  not, 
indeed,  very  much  that  is  of  a  startling  or  sensa- 
tional nature,  but  on  an  enormous  number  of 
points  the  new  material  effects  a  readjustment  of 
our  point  of  view  which  is  of  real  importance.  To 
begin  with,  Botticelli's  birth  is  now  fixed  with 
some  show  of  certainty  in  1444  instead  of  1447. 
A  new  complexion  is  given  to  the  already  recog- 
nized influence  of  Antonio  Pollajuolo,  a  new  con- 
ception of  the  influence  on  his  art  of  the  work  of 
Castagno  and  of  its  curious  and  interesting  cause, 
namely,  Botticelli's  finding  himself  obliged  to  rival 
Castagno  in  the  rendering  of  the  iiiipicciati. 


Mr.  Hornets  Book  on   'Botticelli 


About  the  dates  and  history  of  particular  pic- 
tures Mr.  Home  has  accumulated  a  large  mass  of 
material.  Perhaps  the  most  striking  result  of  this 
is  the  position  which  it  gives  to  Lorenzo  di  Pier- 
francesco  de'  Medici.  It  turns  out  that  he  was,  in 
fact,  the  chief  patron  and  encourager  of  Botticelli's 
art.  Indeed,  what  is  of  quite  particular  interest, 
it  was  for  him  that  Botticelli  executed  those  pic- 
tures like  the  Spring  and  the  Birth  of  Vcims,  in 
which  we  find  the  expression  of  what  is  rarest  and 
most  personal  to  Botticelli,  just  that  side  of  his  art 
which  required  the  stimulus  of  some  appreciative 
private  patron,  that  side  which,  had  the  church 
and  the  republic  been  his  only  patrons,  would 
never  have  come  to  light.  It  had  always  been 
assumed  that  these  pictures  and  the  kindred 
Allegory  of  Pan,  by  Signorelli,  breathed  the  very 
spirit  of  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico's  court.  So  that 
when  we  find  them  due  to  the  other  Lorenzo, 
Lorenzo  di  Pierfrancesco,  and  that  they  adorned 
his  villa  at  Cestello,  we  have  materially  to  readjust 
our  opinions  of  the  two  members  of  the  family, 
and  almost  in  proportion  as  the  latter  gains  in 
interest  something  of  the  Magnifico's  unique 
position  as  a  patron  is  lost. 

Of  less  importance  is  the  discovery  of  another 
patron  of  Botticelli's — Giovanni  Lami — for  whom 
he  executed  the  incomparable  altarpiece  with  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi  which  once  stood  (Mr. 
Home,  with  infinite  pains,  has  found  exactly 
where)  in  Sta.  Maria  Novella.  He  has  stopped 
here,  by  the  way,  to  follow  out  the  whole  history 
of  the  changes  in  the  arrangements  of  this  church 
when  the  trauiezzo  was  removed.  Such  minutely 
precise  work  is  characteristic  of  Mr.  Home's 
method.  He  is  never  satisfied  until  he  has  been 
able  to  visualize  each  painting  as  it  originally 
appeared  amid  the  surroundings  for  which  it  was 
first  designed.  More  than  once  such  care  leads  to 
valuable  suggestions  about  the  picture  itself,  and 
it  always  gives  a  certain  vividness  and  actuality  to 
our  knowledge. 

In  discussing  the  portraits  in  this  picture  of  the 
Adoration  our  author  disposes  of  Dr.  Uhlmann's 
ingenious  discoveries  of  portraits  of  all  the  Medici 
and  Tornabuoni  families.  Of  the  improbability  of 
Lorenzo  Tornabuoni  being  among  the  group 
there  is  no  doubt,  but,  in  view  of'the  fact  that 
Cosinio  Pater  Patriae  and  Piero  il  Gottoso  are 
certainly  represented,  it  seems  likely  that  among 
the  other  portrait-like  heads  we  might  expect  the 
two  chiefs  of  the  younger  generation,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  Lorenzo's  characteristic  mouth  is 
evident  in  the  young  man  standing  with  folded 
hands  to  the  left,  and  that  Giuliano's  profile  is  no 
less  evident  in  one  of  the  standing  figures  on 
the  right. 

When  we  come  to  Botticelli's  work  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel  we  find  a  mass  of  misconception  and  mis- 
understanding, accumulated  by  Dr.  Uhlmann  and 


others,  swept  away  with  Mr.  Home's  unfailing 
thoroughness  of  method.  What  he  has  done  here 
will  certainly  not  need  doing  again,  and  no  one 
would  venture,  we  imagine,  to  revive  the  myths  of 
Fra  Diamante's  and  Filippino  Lippi's  assistance  in 
the  Sistine  Chapel  frescoes.  We  are  glad  to  see, 
by  the  bye,  that  Mr.  Home  does  not  accept  the 
attribution  of  the  Passage  of  the  Red  Sea  to  Piero 
di  Cosimo,  and  alludes  to  its  essentially  Ghirlan- 
dajesque  character. 

Whether  he  is  equally  right  in  dismissing  as 
unreal  the  historical  allusions  discovered  by  Dr. 
Steinmann  in  Botticelli's  fresco  of  the  Temptation 
I  do  not  feel  so  certain.  Some  explanation 
is  necessary,  surely,  of  the  extremely  unsatis- 
factory composition  of  this  fresco.  There  are, 
no  doubt,  beautiful  passages,  single  groups  of 
figures  with  beautifully  interwoven  linear  design, 
but  as  a  whole  the  composition  is  perfunctory 
and  mechanical  without  any  leading  idea,  with- 
out any  inspiration.  And  this  is  the  only  one 
of  Botticelli's  works  of  which  this  can  be  said.  He 
is  indeed  almost  infallible  alike  in  the  originality 
and  perfection  of  his  general  disposition  of  masses. 
Such  a  complete  failure  as  this,  where  the  nominal 
subject — that  of  the  Temptation — was  one  to 
inspire  Botticelli  with  supremely  noble  and  original 
ideas,  demands  an  explanation,  and  the  dictation  of 
a  patron  like  Sixtus  IV  seems  a  highly  probable 
one. 

We  have  hurried  on  to  this  important  point  of 
the  Sistine  frescoes,  but  must  turn  back  to  note  the 
interesting  discussion  on  La  Bella  Simonetta  and 
the  complete  exposure  of  the  elaborate  legend 
which  has  gradually  accumulated  round  the  sup- 
posed romance  of  her  relations  with  Giuliano.  The 
idea  that  she  is  the  original  of  Botticelli's  '  type ' 
is  finally  disposed  of  thus :  '  At  the  time  of 
Simonetta's  death  none  of  the  pictures  which  are 
said  to  contain  her  portrait  were  painted,  or  even 
invented  ;  and  at  the  time  of  Giuliano's  murder, 
in  1487,  one  only,  the  Spring,  could  possibly  have 
been  begun.'  If  the  critic  is  inclined  to  carp  at  the 
comparatively  small  addition  which  Mr.  Home's 
patient  researches  have  added  to  our  positive 
knowledge  of  Botticelli,  he  should  remember  that 
such  thoroughly  destructive  criticism  as  he  has 
given  us  on  a  large  number  of  points  is  not  only 
as  valuable  as  new  matter  to  the  lover  of  historical 
truth,  but  requires  as  sure  an  historical  sense,  as 
deep  a  knowledge  of  original  sources,  and  as 
calm  a  judgment  as  are  needed  for  the  happiest 
and  most  sensational  discoveries. 

But  let  us  pass  to  another  piece  of  constructive 
criticism  and  research.  Mr.  Home  has  shown 
for  the  first  time  the  importance  in  the  art  of  the 
period  which  attached  to  the  now  destroyed  frescoes 
executed  for  Lorenzo  il  Magnifico  at  the  Spedaletto 
near  Volterra.  With  his  customary  thorough- 
ness,   he  has  examined   the  site   of  these  once- 


Mr.  Hornets  Book  on  Botticelli 

splendid  decorations  executed  by  the  same  artists 
as  had  just  completed  the  Sistine  frescoes,  and 
concludes  that  these  frescoes  'formed  a  series  of 
profane  stories  which,  although  less  monumental 
in  character  than  the  stories  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  in  the  Sistine  Chapel,  approached  them 
in  artistic  interest.' 

Where  everything  bears  the  same  stamp  of 
scholarly  thoroughness  and  patient  research,  it  is 
difficult  to  select  special  examples  for  praise,  but 
Mr.  Home's  discussion  of  the  celebrated  Magnificat 
tondo  is  a  singularly  good  example  of  his  cool, 
clear-sighted,  well-balanced  judgment  and  critical 
acumen.  Nothing  here  is  underlined,  no  new 
points  are  accented  ;  yet  to  the  careful  reader  this 
passage  will  disclose  many  implied  criticisms,  both 
of  other  paintings  and  other  critics  which  in  his 
dry,  austere  manner  Mr.  Home  sets  once  more  in 
their  proper  place.  And  while  we  are  on  this 
point  we  must  call  attention  to  the  wonderful  use 
Mr.  Home  has  made  of  the  now  somewhat 
neglected  practice  of  the  verbal  description  of 
pictures.  Where  the  originals  are  so  well  known 
as  most  of  these,  and  where,  as  here,  they  are 
accompanied  by  admirable  photogravure  illus- 
trations, this  verbal  description  might  almost 
appear  superfluous  ;  and  yet  again  and  again  in 
reading  this  book  some  small  point  is  revealed 
which  one  had  always  overlooked,  some  readjust- 
ment of  the  relative  importance  of  the  parts  has 
been  suggested.  Moreover,  one  can  hardly  praise 
enough  the  admirable  literary  quality,  the  directness 
and  beauty  of  these  descriptions. 

Proceeding  once  more  with  our  consideration 
of  the  new  material  contained  in  the  book,  we  note 
that  the  occasion  of  the  Nasiagio  clegli  Oncsti  panels 
is  found  to  have  been  the  marriage  of  Giannozzo 
Pucci  with    Lucrezia  Bini  in   1483.     The  nature 
and  purpose  of  these  and  other  decorative  panels 
are  for  the  first  time  clearly  elucidated.     Mr.  Home 
has  in  his  studies  become  so  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  appearance  of  Florentine  interiors  of  the 
period   that   he   is  able   to   reconstruct  them   in 
imagination  more  exactly  than  any  one  heretofore. 
Of  actually  new  material,  of  paintings  for  tiie 
first  time  attributed  to  Botticelli,  there  is,  I  think, 
only  one,  the  damaged  fresco  of  the  Anmiticialion 
in  the  suppressed  monastery  of  San  Martino  in 
the  Via  della  Scala  at  Florence.     It  is,  perhaps, 
asking  too  much,  but  we  cannot  repress  the  wish 
that  this  and  other  little-known  works  intimately 
connected  with  Botticelli's  art,  such  as  the  tapestry 
of   Pallas,  the   embroidery  in   the  Poldi  Pezzoli, 
and  some  of  the  less-known  drawings,  had  found 
a  place  among  the  reproductions  beside  the  well- 
known  masterpieces.     However,  while  upon  this 
subject,  let  us  express  our  gratitude  for  having 
the  first  accessible  reproduction  of  the  little-known 
and  curious  picture  of  The  Magdalen  at  the  Foot  of 
the  Cross   from   the  collection  of   M.  Aynard  at 

86 


Lyons.     This   damaged    picture   belongs   to   the 
latest  phase  of  Botticelli's  art,  to  the  time  when 
strained    religious   emotion   and    deep    mystical 
yearnings  occupied  his  once-happy  spirit,  and  in 
the   invention,  at   all  events,   it   is  such  as  only 
Botticelli  could  have  conceived.     The  description 
of  this  strange  Apocalyptic  vision  is  not  altogether 
convincing.      Mr.    Home  says  :    'In    the   sky   a 
number  of    shields  blazoned  with  the  Cross  are 
seen  to   fall  from   heaven,  as   if    rained   by   the 
Almighty  upon  the  earth.      These  shields,  which 
are   of    the   same   form   as   those  borne   by  the 
Dominations,    in     Botticelli's     drawing     of     the 
Angelic  Hierarchy  in  illustration  to  Canto  XXVII 
of  die  "  Paradiso,"  fall  across  the  picture  from  left 
to  right  towards  a  bank  of  angry  clouds,  in  which 
are  a  number  of  devils,  who  hurl  burning  brands 
upon  the  earth.'     He  adds  :  '  The  falling  shields, 
blazoned  with  the    cross,    apparently  symbolical 
of  that  power  of  divine  wrath  which  urges  the  evil 
spirits  to  hurl  the  burning  brands  upon  the  earth, 
recall  the  vision  described  by   Savonarola  in  the 
" Coinpcnilio  delle  Rk'clazioni"  o( the  "Crux  ime  Dei" 
which  he  suddenly  saw  "  trouble  the  heavens  and 
drive  clouds  through  the  air,  and  cast  winds  and 
lightnings    and     thunderbolts,    and    rain    down 
hail,  fires  and  swords,  and  kill  a  great  multitude 
of     people,    so    that    few    remained     upon     the 
earth."  '    Now  it  seems  a  perfectly  natural  expres- 
sion of  such  divine  wrath  to  rain  down  swords — 
but  not  to  rain  down  shields,  which  are  weapons 
of    defence.       It   may  be   that    the    photograph 
reveals    something    which     is     no     longer     dis- 
tinguishable    in     the     much-damaged     picture, 
but  it  seems  to  me  quite  clear  that  behind  these 
shields    there    were    once    angelic  warriors,  sent 
down  from  heaven  to  fight  the  devils.     The  raised 
right  arm  and  sword  of  one  such  are  visible  to  the 
right  of  Christ's  body. 

Meanwhile  we  have  passed  over  the  whole  story 
of  Botticelli's  relations  with  Savonarola  on  the  one 
hand  and  his  old  patron  Lorenzo  di  Pierfrancesco 
de'  Medici,  here  for  the  first  time  stated  with  all  the 
knowledge  which  is  at  our  disposal  and  without 
any  of  those  vague  speculations  with  which 
previous  writers,  from  Vasari  downwards,  have 
filled  in  the  meagre  outlines.  Mr.  Home,  here  as 
elsewhere,  shows  himself  as  a  model  of  clear  un- 
biased historical  judgment.  As  an  example  of 
his  method  I  may  call  attention  to  his  explanation 
of  Botticelli's  share  in  the  mosaics  of  the  chapel 
of  S.  Zenobio,  in  the  cathedral  at  Florence. 
Nothing  whatever  is  left  of  these  mosaics,  but  that 
does  not  deter  Mr.  Home  from  an  inquiry,  which 
must  have  needed  almost  as  must  patience  as  skill, 
into  what  was  exactly  Botticelli's  share  in  this  work. 
Here,  as  in  so  many  places,  Mr.  Home's  experience 
as  an  architect  stands  him  in  good  stead,  and  he 
is  able  to  unravel  the  complicated  documentary 
evidence,   and    present    a    clear    and    intelligible 


Mr.  Home's  Booh^  on  Botticelli 


narrative  of  the  whole  sequence  of  events.  The 
inquiry  has  its  reward  for  the  hght  it  throws  on 
the  relative  position  of  the  artists  and  artificers 
employed  on  the  mosaics,  and  especially  for  the 
new  prominence  it  gives  to  the  figure  of  Ghcrardo, 
the  miniaturist. 

And  this  leads  us  to  the  question  of  the  promised 
second  volume,  wherein  many  new  and  interesting 
lines  of  inquiry,  here  seen  only  '  glimpse-wise,' 
will  be  treated  at  full  length.  If  the  promises  here 
held  out  are  fulfilled,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  second  volume  will  contain  enough  new 
material  to  satisfy  the  most  eager  curiosity  of  the 
student  of  art  history, 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  one  other  discovery 
which  we  owe  to  Mr.  Home.  That  Scpoltiiario,  or 
hook  of  sepultures,  in  manuscript  byRoselli,  which 
has  been  Mr.  Home's  trusty  guide  throughout  his 


patient  investigation,  has  done  him  a  final  service 
here,  and  one  which  engages  alike  our  sentiment  and 
curiosity,  by  revealing  the  exact  spot  in  Ognissanti 
where  once  stood  the  gravestone  of  Sandro  di 
Mariano. 

I  am  conscipus  that  I  have  given  an  all  too 
imperfect  idea  of  a  great  and  monumental  work. 
It  is  one  which  exemplifies  that  union  of  the  man 
of  science  and  the  artist  which  was  so  familiar  to 
Botticelli's  day  and  which  seems  so  improbable  to 
our  own  ideas  of  their  respective  functions.  It  is 
unlikely  indeed  that  very  much  more  will  ever 
be  known  about  Botticelli  than  is  here  set  down  ; 
for  many  years  to  come  those  who  inquire  what  it 
is  we  know  about  this  painter  of  Florence  will 
have  to  refer  to  this  book,  which  alike  in  the 
thoroughness  of  its  scholarship  and  the  gravity  of 
its  style  has  the  air  of  a  classic. 


A  DEFECT  OF  MODERN  ART  TEACHING 


^  BY  C.  J. 

S  might  be  expected  from  its 
author,  this  gossiping  record' 
of  Sir  Hubert  von  Herkomer's 
experiences  as  a  teacher  at 
Bushey  is  an  entertaining 
volume.  It  traces  the  origin 
and  rise  of  his  school,  the 
principles  on  which  the  teach- 
ing was  conducted,  and  ends  with  an  account 
of  the  dramatic  performances  held  there,  with 
special  reference  to  the  musical  accompaniments 
and  the  novelties  in  stage  management  introduced. 
It  is  profusely  illustrated  both  with  the  author's 
sketches  and  with  reproductions  of  works  by  his 
most  talented  pupils,  which  make  a  goodly  show. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  book  offers  a  variety 
of  attractions  ;  and  the  notes  on  stage  management 
by  one  of  the  pioneers  of  reform  are  particularly 
apposite  at  a  time  when  so  many  efforts  are  on 
foot  to  improve  theatrical  presentation. 

With  this  interesting  subject  we  cannot  deal 
here  ;  we  must  restrict  ourselves  to  considering  the 
general  principles  underlying  the  teaching  at 
Bushey.  The  notes  on  the  theory  and  practice  of 
the  arts  have  special  interest  as  coming  from  a 
skilful  professional  painter  whose  experiments 
have  embraced  an  even  wider  area  than  that  covered 
in  a  different  field  by  the  generous  and  versatile 
talent  of  Lord  Leighton.  No  one  in  these  days 
would  question  the  author's  judgment  in  breaking 
away  from  the  cast-iron  regulations  of  academic 
teaching  by  encouraging  his  students  to  develop 
their  own  individuality  upon  a  sound  basis  of 
technical  practice.  The  illustrations  alone  are 
enough  to  indicate  that  the  method  produced  a 

"My  School  and  my  Gospel.'  By  Proressor  Sir  Hubert  von 
Herkomer,  C.V.O.,  K.A,  D.C.L.,  .etc.  London:  Constable. 
2IS.  net. 


HOLMES  cik? 

number  of  well-trained  professional  artists  of  very 
varied  tastes  and  styles.  Yet  in  only  one  case,  and 
there  but  faintly,  do  we  discern  any  hint  of  a  desire 
to  be  more  than  that.  Many  of  the  Bushey  pupils 
have  possessed  skill  ;  hardly  one  seems  to  have  had 
any  loftier  ideal.  The  author's  remarkable  pro- 
nouncement on  imaginative  landscape  painting, 
and  his  criticism  of  Chill  October,  both  of  which 
we  hold  to  be  eminently  wise  and  just,  indicate 
that  he  himself  recognizes  mere  representation  to 
be  a  means,  not  an  end.  Yet  his  pupils  seem  to 
have  been  unable  to  follow  him  even  thus  far. 

One  possible  explanation  will  occur  to  the 
reader.  The  author  mentions  that,  while  teaching 
his  students  the  elements  of  technical  practice,  he 
refrained  from  confusing  their  minds  with  theories 
of  art.  Theories  were  reserved  for  a  later  stage. 
He  also  states  that  study  in  galleries  cannot  be  of 
much  use  to  young  students. 

Here,  if  anywhere,  the  chief  defect  in  his  system 
would  seem  to  lie.  Few  of  us  can  keep  so  fresh 
in  spirit  as  not  to  regret  in  middle  age  that  we 
have  lost  the  enthusiasms  of  youth,  and  that  while 
we  possessed  those  enthusiasms  we  did  not  put 
them  to  better  use.  We  have  perhaps  gained  expe- 
rience, but  in  the  process  we  have  lost  the  flush  of 
emotional  vigour  that  might  inspire  experience 
to  high  purpose.  A  steady  routine  of  technical 
practice,  while  it  makes  the  young  artist  clever 
with  his  fingers,  undoubtedly  checks  his  imagina- 
tion. Working  constantly  from  a  model,  he 
forgets  to  use  his  wits  for  any  other  purpose  than 
accurate  representation  of  what  he  sees,  and  by 
the  time  he  has  learned  to  work  with  certainty  and 
accuracy  he  has  probably  forgotten  that  any  larger 
ideals  than  these  are  required  of  him  in  the  future. 

The  regulation  academic  training  accentuated 
this  narrowness.    The  Bushey  school  gave  more 

87 


A  T)efect  of  Modern  Art  Teaching 


scope  to  the  individual,  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
scope  in  the  matter  of  methodand  treatment  rather 
than  in  the  matter  of  ideals.  Now,  the  ideals  of 
the  young  are  tender  plants,  and  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned how  far  any  method  of  teaching  which 
tends  in  the  least  to  their  suppression  can  produce 
satisfactory  results.  A  close  acquaintance  with 
the  masterpieces  that  are  found  in  a  great  gallery 
may  have  an  influence  that  for  the  time  bemg  is 
not  wholly  good,  and  may  lead  from  time  to  tune 
to  foolish  and  mannered  experiments  in  imitation. 
Yet  these  experiments  will  not  generally  do  much 
harm.  Indeed,  in  the  end  they  will  usually  produce 
their  own  anti-toxin,  and  the  student  in  after  years 
will  laugh  at  these  childish  endeavours  which  at 
the  time  were  elaborated  with  so  much  thought 
and  effort.  Whatever  their  immediate  effect  upon 
his  work,  they  will  at  least  have  kept  his  enthusiasm 
alive,  and  saved  him  from  being  absorbed  by 
the  routine  of  his  school  till  he  becomes  oblivious 
of  the  fact  that  any  art  can  possibly  exist  outside 
the  system  of  study  he  is  following  there. 

To  arouse  an  interest  in  the  general  theory  of 
art  is  no  less  important.  It  is  a  second  safeguard 
against  the  narrowness  that  comes  of  concentration 
upon  technical  practice.  It  puts  professional  skill 
in  its  proper  place— as  a  necessary  means  to  success 
in  realizing  artistic  ideals,  but  not  as  an  ideal  in  it- 
self. It  shows  the  student  that  there  are  countless 
roads  to  pictorial  expression,  and  that  the  one  road 
along  which  he  is  travelling  in  his  schooldays 
stretches  merely  to  the  point  where  his  schooldays 
end  and  then  comes  to  an  end  also.  Afterwards 
he  must  choose  a  way  for  himself :  the  way  that 
best  fits  his  talents,  his  aspirations.  Even  as  a 
student  his  ambition  will  be  fired  by  the  thought 
of  the  time  when  he  will  be  a  student  no  longer ; 
and  the  labour  of  his  daily  round  of  practice  will  be 
cheered  by  visions  of  future  freedom,  and,  perhaps, 
now  and  then  by  experiments  with  new  methods, 
new  subjects  and  new  materials— in  anticipation 
of  the  great  pictures  he  hopes  to  produce  in  a  few 
years'  time. 

If  such  dreams,  such  experiments,  interrupt  the 
training  process  a  little,  no   great   harm  will    be 


done  in  the  end,  provided  the  master  is  a  man  of 
sense,  and  prevents  speculation  from  becoming 
idleness.  If  they  lead  to  confusion  the  fault  surely 
lies  with  the  pupil,  not  with  the  method.  As 
Professor  von  Herkomer  forcibly  points  out,  art  is 
often  considered  a  suitable  profession  for  those 
whose  wits  are  not  strong  enough  to  stand  the 
strain  of  more  mechanical  forms  of  work.  No 
fallacy  could  be  more  deplorable,  both  for  the 
unfortunates  who  are  trained  for  the  profession 
and  for  the  profession  itself.  The  profession  is 
overwhelmed  with  crowds  of  mediocre  painters, 
and  these  painters  themselves  in  ninety-nine  cases 
out  of  a  hundred  fail  to  get  even  a  bare  pittance 
from  it  by  the  sale  of  their  pictures. 

Were  the  process  of  training  made  more  severe, 
were  intelligence  in  the  theory  of  art  made  as 
integral  a  part  of  it  as  skill  in  its  manual  practice, 
were  teaching  to  impose  a  strain  on  the  wits  as  well 
asonthe  fingersanalogoustothe  knowledge  required 
to  gain  a  good  degree  in  surgery,  the  incompetent 
would  soon  recognize  their  incompetence  and  take 
the  place  they  deserved,  while  the  competent  would 
have  a  clear  field  for  their  energies.  We  might 
then  gradually  free  ourselves  from  the  obsession  of 
the  vast  horde  of  tolerably  clever  painters  who 
have  acquired  a  certain  technical  dexterity  but 
have  used  up  in  the  process  such  little  character 
and  originality  as  they  ever  possessed.  This  is  the 
crying  evil  of  the  present  day.  The  artist  of  real 
talent  is  overwhelmed  by  crowds  of  painters  with 
imitation  talent,  and  until  that  crowd  is  relegated 
to  its  proper  place  we  shall  never  be  free  from 
confusion  and  injustice.  The  Bushey  school  was 
an  improvement  on  the  academic  method  of 
teaching,  but  its  record  shows  that  the  improve- 
ment might  with  advantage  be  carried  further. 

The  statement  made  on  p.  99  about  the  frescoes 
on  the  Sistine  ceiling  has  not,  we  think,  found 
its  way  into  biographies  of  Michelangelo — but  it 
raises  a  point  of  some  interest.  If  nearly  half  the 
cracks  in  the  ceiling  are  really  cracks  painted  by 
Michelangelo  himself,  as  Professor  von  Herkomer's 
friend  records,  it  is  curious  that  the  fact  should 
have  escaped  notice. 


THE  ARTS  AND  CRAFTS  OF  OLDER  SPAIN 

^  BY  A.  VAN  DE  PUT  h^p 


1  'The  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Older  Spain 
Three  vols.    London  :  Foulis,     15s, 

88 


O  write  the  history  of  the 
principal  Spanish  artistic 
crafts  is  no  light  task.  The 
thirteen  essays  comprising  the 
bulk  of  Mr.  Williams's 
volume^  cover  in  scope  the 
whole  ground  of  art  industry 
in  Spain  from  the  earliest 
By  Leonard  Williams. 


down  to  present  times.  Such  a  history  was  a 
desideratum.  The  book  before  us  supervenes, 
after  a  very  considerable  lapse,  upon  the 
only  general  history  of  the  kind  we  possess  in 
English,  the  long-out-of-print  South  Kensington 
handbook  by  Riano  (1879) ;  and  it  has  the  crown- 
ing advantage  of  photography  as  a  basis  for  illus- 
tration, which;  of  course,  neither  that  nor  Davillier's 
*  Les  Arts  d(5coratifs  en  Espagne,'  published  in  the 
same    year,    possessed.      Mr.   Williams's    text   is 


The  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Older  Spain 


crowded  with  facts,  and  with  a  mass  of  encyclo- 
paedic information  it  needed  great  industry  to  put 
together.  It  has,  on  the  other  hand,  the  defects  of 
its  merits.  Considerations  of  space  (even  in  i,ooo 
pp.  octavo)  require  it  to  be  largely  synthetical ;  in 
so  large  a  programme  there  is  no  room  for  the 
minute  disquisitions  which  art  historians  and 
antiquaries  find  necessary  to  establish  soundly 
the  lines  of  artistic  evolution,  the  descent  of 
technique,  and  in  order  to  ensure  adequate  treat- 
ment from  the  standpoints  of  ecclesiology,  heraldry, 
etc.  Yet  synthesis  is  only  trustworthy  where  previous 
exploration  can  claim  to  have  been  in  some  measure 
thorough  and  complete.  Of  such  effective,  co- 
ordinate description  the  history  of  the  Spanish 
crafts  is  sorely  in  need  ;  much  of  the  literature  of 
the  subject  is  valuable,  but  much  requires  revision. 
The  difficulty  of  achieving  a  really  adequate  per- 
formance in  each  section  of  a  general  work  of  this 
kind  is,  therefore,  great  :  it  requires  wide  and 
intimate  knowledge  and  a  good  deal  of  skill  to 
compress,  for  instance,  an  account  of  the  working 
of  precious  metals  in  Spain  into  loopp.,  when,  for 
the  most  part,  actual  constructive  art-history  is 
required  of  the  writer. 

Owing  to  this,  we  imagine  that  '  The  Arts  and 
Crafts  of  Older  Spain  '  will  satisfy  general  readers 
rather  than  special  students ;  many  of  the  essays 
are  rather  too  dependent  upon  previous  authorities 
— the  corners  that  were  dark  to  them  are  yet  often 
unilluminated  ;  subdivision  of  material  might  have 
been  carried  further,  for  clearness'  sake ;  and  greater 
attention  might  have  been  given  to  the  nomencla- 
ture of  common  art  objects  :  thuribles,  not  '  incen- 
sories '  (i,  50);  patens,  not '  patines '  (i,  37, 84);  cope, 
not  '  priest's  robe '  (iii,  pi.  x,  xi) ;  croziers,  not 
'  baculi '  (ii,  105, 106)  ;  and  the  one  word  misericord 
would  have  done  all  the  work  of  a  nine  line 
description  (at  Vol.  ii,  p.  72).  Use  of  Spanish,  for 
English  terms,  is  carried  to  excess,  e.g.,  custodia  for 
'  monstrance '  (the  former  is  actually  the  only  word 
of  the  two  indexed  !)  ;  and,  what  will  the  average 
reader  make  of  the  typical  statement  that,  in  a 
range  of  monastic  cho'ir  stalls,  '  the  higher  stalls 
are  for  the  profesos,  and  the  lower  for  the  novices 
and  legos '  (ii,  72)  ? 

The  treatment  of  the  ecclesiastical  side  of  Spanish 
art  is  unsympathetic  throughout,  and  reveals  a  want 
of  appreciation  of  the  logical  objective  of  Christian 
art,  or,  apparently,  of  art  dedicated  to  religious 
uses  at  all.  Magnificence  of  this  kind  is  censured 
in  no  uncertain  terms  (i,  74,  75)  ;  elsewhere  we 
read  of  '  gold  and  silver  objects  that  were  merely 
destined  to  stagnate  within  her  [i.e.,  Spain's] 
churches  and  cathedrals '  (i,  88),  though  the  author 
is  not  slow  to  express  disapprobation  when  objects 
are  missing  from  ecclesiastical  treasuries  (i,  57, 
etc.). 

To  review  the  different  sections  seriatim  in 
these  columns  would  be  out  of  the  question.  Vol.  i 


contains  :  gold,  silver  and  jewel  work  ;  iron 
work  ;  bronzes  ;  arms  ;  with  62  plates.  The  arts 
are  studied  each  in  its  chronological  progression 
more  or  less  ;  generally  as  a  whole,  occasionally 
the  line  of  development  of  a  class  of  object  being 
described.  Synthesis,  or  general  principles,  have 
as  a  rule  to  make  way  for  descriptions,  or  for 
enumerations  of  objects  by  name  without  descrip- 
tions, such  as  the  collections  of  chalices  exhibited 
at  Madrid  in  1892  and  at  Lugo  in  1896,  not  one  of 
which  is  adequately  described  (i,  40,  41).  The 
famous  chalice  at  Valencia  is  still  vaguely  summed 
up,  as  regards  date,  d'apres  Riaiio,  '  of  the  Roman 
imperial  epoch,  and  the  mounts  are  of  a  later  date.' 
Another  chalice,  we  are  told,  'which  is  greatly 
interesting  because  of  the  date  inscribed  on  it  [italics 
ours],  is  one  which  was  presented  to  Lugo 
Cathedral  by  a  bishop  of  that  diocese,  Don  Garcia 
Martinez  de  Bahamonde  (1441-1470).  The  work- 
manship, though  prior  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
is  partly  Gothic'  In  the  catalogue  of  the  Madrid 
exhibition  this  object  is  attributed  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  its  inscription,  as  there  given,  contains 
no  date  ;  the  latter  is  to  be  inferred  from  the 
duration  of  Bahamonde's  episcopate. 

Such  an  important  point  as  that  whether  enam- 
elling was  known  to  the  Visigoths  obtains  no 
decisive  answer  here.  The  reader  would  not, 
perhaps,  demur  at  being  left  between  Lasteyrie's 
verdict  that  certain  spaces  on  Swinthila's  crown  are 
filled  with  glass  or  paste,  and  that  of  Amador  delos 
Rios  '  who  after  protracted  chemical  experiments 
declared  it  to  be  layers  of  cornelian  '  (i,  23),  had 
he  not  already  been  informed  (p.  22)  that  the  sub- 
stance 'looks  like  red  enamel.'  A  closer  study  of 
jewellery  would  have  decided  that  such  Visigothic 
work  belongs  to  the  inlay  method  of  the  so-called 
Barbaric  jewellery,  and  this  should  preclude  any 
reference  to  enamel  proper.  While  Limoges 
champleve  work  is  noticed,  no  mention  is  made  of 
the  interesting  early  mounts  of  probably  native 
champleve  enamel  upon  ivory  caskets  (one  of  which 
is,  however,  illustrated,  V^ol.  ii,  pl.xxxix).  Similarly 
the  bare  statement,  '  Martin  Minguez  says  that 
enamelling  was  done  at  Gerona  in  the  fourteenth 
century'  (i,  52),  is  practically  to  ignore  one  of  the 
principal  Catalan  mediaeval  crafts.  Plate  viii,  an 
early  xv.  century  statuette  of  French  work,  repre- 
senting St.  James  the  Greater,  and  belonging  to  San- 
tiago cathedral,  appears  to  be  nowhere  mentioned 
in  tlie  text. 

The  sections  devoted  to  iron-work,  bronzes  and 
arms  are  more  genially  conceived  than  the  fore- 
going, and  give  a  clearer  idea  of  what  Spain  pro- 
duced in  these  fields  ;  though,  as  these  and  other 
essays  start  with  the  Iberians,  it  would  have  been 
well  if  Professor  Paris's  researches,  in  his  '  Essaie 
sur  I'Art  et  I'lndustrie  de  I'Espagne  primitive' 
(1903-4)  had  been  utilised  for  bronzes,  jewellery, 
arms  and  ceramics.     The  armour  section  is  mainly 

H  89 


The  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Older  Spain 


a  commentary  upon  the  Ro3'al  Armoury  at  Madrid, 
which  is  becoming  well  known,  but  it  contains  also 
a  suggestive  sketch  of  the  evolution  of  military 
equipment  in  Spain  from  early  times. 

The  second  volume  opens  with  an  informing 
essay  upon  furniture  (86  pp.,  with  36  plates).  It 
embraces  the  most  heterogeneous  elements  :  fur- 
niture proper,  decorative  leather-work,  inlaid  doors 
and  ceilings,  choir  stalls  and  carved  altar-pieces. 
Literary  sources  are  drawn  upon  for  pen-pictures 
of  interiors,  so  that  an  adequate  idea  of  rooms  and 
their  fittings  at  most  periods  is  obtained.  But  the 
treatment  of  Gothic  furniture — chests,  perhaps, 
excepted — is  meagre,  and  as  regards  date,  the  most 
that  can  be  expected,  apparently,  is  the  century  ; 
the  '  mediaeval '  chair  (pi.  i),  bearing  the  arms  of 
the  Enriquez,  admirals  of  Castile,  not  of  '  Castile 
and  Leon,'  is  as  much  laie  '  fifteenth  century '  as  is 
pi.  ii.  The  section  upon  ivories  could  have  been 
spared  for  a  lengthier  treatment  of  leather  (here 
8  pp.),  which  surely  deserved  a  more  copious  and 
representative  illustration  than  three  chair-backs 
(pi.  vii).  The  essay  upon  pottery  (ii,  pp.  11 1-220) 
is  chiefly  remarkable  for  an  inadequate  treatment 
of  the  products  of  Valencia,  whether  of  the 
splendid  blue  and  white  tiles  produced  during 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  or  of  Instred 
pottery.  As  regards  attributions,  the  difficulty 
of  assigning  dates  and  places  of  fabrication 
must  strike  any  close  student  of  the  pottery  as 
unduly  insisted  upon  (pp.  167,  183).  But  this 
is  not  surprising  when  the  distinction  between 
the  decorative  motives  of  fifteenth-century 
Valencia  and  the  pure  Mussulman  arabesque  of 


ceramics  associated  with  Granada  or  Malaga,  as 
characteristics  of  separate  groups,  is  unappre- 
hended. As  regards  date,  few  ceramic  products 
carry  the  information  so  plainly  upon  them  as  do 
those  of  Valencia.  Cock's  recipe  (pp.  175-6),  it 
must  be  remarked,  is  in  places  already  sufficiently 
ambiguous  for  it  to  be  undesirable  to  translate  with- 
out comment  the  inadvertence  with  which  he 
closes  the  account  of  the  application  of  the  enamel 
bath  and  second  firing  of  a  piece  of  the  ware, 
'and  after  being  rebaked  they  keep  their  lustre' 
(p.  176)  ('y  entonces  con  este  calor  conservan  su 
lustra').  'The  painting  with  lustre  pigment  is  in 
fact  the  next  operation.  The  volume  closes  with 
an  essay  upon  glass,  including  the  stained  and 
painted  window  glazing  of  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries. 

Vol.  iii.  is  devoted  to  the  textile  arts  :  it  comprises 
essays  upon  Spanish  silk,  cloths  and  woollens,  em- 
broidery, tapestry,  and  lace,  with  an  interesting 
introduction  in  which  the  principal  historical  tissues 
and  garments  find  their  place.  Rather  more  is  now 
known  concerning  the  early  history  of  tapestry 
and  Flemish  intercourse  with  Aragon  than  is  stated 
at  pp.  139,  149  ;  and  eleven  pages  is  not  a  great  deal 
to  devote  to  embroidery,  even  though  the  essay 
starts  toiip.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Many  of  these 
pages  upon  the  mere  technique  of  silk  and  woollen 
manufacture  could  have  been  spared  for  a  more 
copious  treatment  of  early  needlework  and  weaving. 
The  remainder  of  the  volume  is  taken  up  with  ap- 
pendices (we  have  but  space  to  mention  the  lengthy 
one  upon  Spanish  trade-guilds)  and  the  biblio- 
graphy, which  is  by  no  means  as  full  as  it  should  be. 


ON  CONTORNIATES 
cA^  BY  KATHARINE  ESDAILE  r*^ 


presence  of  zeal. 


HE  collector  of  the  Renais- 
sance worked  in  many  fields. 
Nothing, artistically  speaking, 
was  too  large  for  his  attention, 
nothing  too  small,  and  in 
matters  of  ancient  art  espe- 
cially the  absence  of  know- 
ledge was  atoned  for  by  the 


Of  nothing  is  this  truer  than  of  contorniates. 
The  very  name,  a  description  of  the  circular  de- 
pression (coiitoruo)  round  the  outer  edge  of  most 
specimens,  is  a  confession  of  ignorance,  and  the 
light-hearted  derivation  from  Crotona  had  to  be 
given  up  even  by  the  more  serious  antiquaries  of 
the  Renaissance.  The  intrinsic  interest  of  some  of 
the  types  has  made  them  familiar  to  many  who 
never  heard  the  name  ;  but  the  subject  as  a  whole 
has  been  curiously  neglected  of  late  years,  and 
the  invaluable  'Corpus'  of   types   published   by 


Sabatier  in  i860  is  almost  unknown  to  the  general 
archaeologist.  The  most  recent  discussion  of  the 
question  may  be  found  in  a  paper  by  the  present 
writer  in  the  '  Numismatic  Chronicle '  for  1906; 
here  it  must  suffice  to  state  the  conclusion  there 
reached  that  contorniates  were  not  amulets,  tickets 
for  reserved  seats  at  the  games,  official  indications 
of  the  success  of  individual  athletes,  or  lots  to 
determine  the  place  of  competitors — to  name  only 
a  few  of  the  theories  that  have  been  held — but 
'  men '  used  in  draughts  and  similar  games,  the 
incised  circle  and  raised  rim  protecting  the  design 
from  injury  as  the  pieces  were  moved  on  the 
board.  Coins  are  known  to  have  been  so  used — 
the  rich  vulgarian  Trimalchio  in  Petronius  has  a 
set  of  gold  and  silver  denarii  as  draughtsmen — 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  contorniates, 
always  analogous  to  and  often  copied  from  coins, 
were  commonly  used  as  pieces  on  tabulae  lusoriae, 
just  as  in  England  Edward  VI  shillings  were  used 


90 


On  Qontorniates 


in  the  games  of  shovel-board  and  shove-groat  : — 
'  Falstaff.  Pistol,  did  you  pick  Master  Slender's 

purse  ? 
'Slender.  Ay,  by  these  gloves,  did  he — or  I  would 
I  might  never  come  in  mine  own 
great  chamber  again  else — of  seven 
groats   in    mill   sixpences   and   two 
Edward  shovel-boards  that  cost  me 
two  shillings  and  twopence  a  piece 
of  Yead  Miller,  by  these  gloves.' 
('  Merry  Wives,'  Act  I,  Sc.  i.     Cf.  '  King   Henry 
IV,' Part  II,  Act  II  :  'Quoit  him  down,  Bardolph, 
like  a  shove-groat  shilling.') 

Alany  of  the  symbols  found  on  contorniates, 
palms  (figs.  3  and  4),  the  disputed  monogram  |, 
etc.,  occur  on  Roman  draught-boards  ;  some  even 
have  incised  circles  indicating  a  position  in  the 
game  and  varying  in  size  as  the  contorniate  varies. 
The  connexion  between  them  is,  therefore,  certain. 
The  favourite  game,  to  judge  from  the  very 
numerous  examples  that  have  come  down  to  us, 
was  played  on  a  board  divided  into  two  equal 
parts  by  a  central  line,  on  either  side  of  which, 
making  a  sentence  of  social,  historical  or  moral 
import,  are  three  words,  each  composed  of  six 
letters,  the  spelling  of  which  is  apt  to  suffer  from 
the  necessary  uniformity.  The  game  was,  one 
may  suggest,  played  with  contorniates  bearing 
corresponding  types — e.g.,  on  the  only  board  in 
the  British  Museum,  which  bears  the  inscription  : 
CIRCVS  PLENVS 

CLAMOR  INGENS 

I  A  N  V  A  E  T  E[C  T  A  E  ?] 

— i.e.,  '  full  house,  loud  applause,  doors  [shut  ?] ' 
— the  pieces  would  be  decorated  with  racing 
scenes.  Again,  the  following  inscription,  found 
on  a  board  which  belonged  to  a  company  of 
venatores,  or  gladiators,  whose  profession  it  was 
to  fight  with  beasts  in  the  arena  : — 

ABEMVS  INCENA* 

PVLLVM  PAONEMi 

P  E  R  N  A  M  P  I  S  C  E  M 

— i.e.,  '  let  us  go  to  supper,  chicken,  peacock,  ham 
and  fish ' — is  presumably  connected  with  the  type 
of  contorniate  representing  fish,  a  trussed  bird  and 
a  ham. 

Some  contorniates,  very  poor  in  design  and 
execution,  may  have  belonged  to  the  lower  classes, 
those  of  more  careful  workmanship,  which  are 
sometimes  inlaid  with  gold  or  silver  (e.g.,  ORATI VS, 
SALVSTIVS,  figs.  2  and  3)  to  the  wealthy.  The 
inscriptionsare  often  blundered,  and  the  occasional 
mixture  of  Greek  and  Latin  (e.g.  fig.  15)  affords 
curious  evidence  of  the  mongrel  state  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Rome  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries 
A.D.,  but,  as  a  whole,  contorniates  contrast  favour- 
ably with  contemporary  coins  and  preserve  a  purer 
classical  tradition.     Their  date  has  been  a  matter 

'  The  variations  in  spelling  are  highly   significant  of  the 
change  that  was  taking  place  in  the  colloquial  language. 


of  dispute,  but  there  is  really  no  doubt  that  they 
belong  entirely  to  the  Western  Empire.-  Early,  in 
the  sense  of  Augustan,  they  are  not,  but  neither  are 
all  so  late  as  is  commonly  supposed.  It  is  impos- 
sible, for  instance,  to  assign  to  a  period  later  than 
Constantine  such  a  portrait  as  that  of  Alexander  in 
fig.  I.  The  type,  like  its  near  analogy,  a  small  Mace- 
donian bronze  coin  of  200-220  a.d.,  is  related  to, 
though  not  immediately  derived  from,  the  early 
portraits,  the  lettering  resembles  that  of  coins  of 
the  third  century  A.D.,  and  the  workmanship 
is  of  high  excellence.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  take 
it  as  a  icniiiniis  post  qtiem  for  contorniates  in  gen- 
eral, taking  as  the  tenitiiuis  ante  quein  a  unique 
specimen  of  debased  style  on  which  Valentinian  III 
(425-455)  and  his  favourite,  the  consul  Petronius 
Maximus,  appear  together.  As  the  emperor  was 
assassinated  by  Petronius  in  revenge  for  a  gross 
insult  in  455,  the  piece  must  be  anterior  to  that  date, 
and  it  has  thus  the  further  interest  of  being 
the  only  contorniate  to  allude  to  contemporary 
history. 

Contorniates — like  their  prototypes,  coins — 
almost  always  bear  a  head  on  the  obverse,  a  deco- 
rative design  on  the  reverse.  The  heads,  not 
as  a  rule  of  great  interest,  may  be  classified  as 
follows  : 

(^7)  Portraits  of  Alexander,  of  which  the  finest 
by  far  is  that  with  the  diadem  represented  in  fig.  i, 
already  mentioned  as  the  high-water  mark  of 
contorniate  art.  The  reverse,  also  illustrated, 
represents  Alexander  slaying  a  Persian  warrior,  in- 
scribed 'ALEXANDER  MAGNVS  MACEDON,' 
possibly — for  there  are  several  instances  of  the 
reproduction  on  contorniates  of  well-known  works 
of  art — part  of  the  great  group  by  Lysippus  repre- 
senting the  battle  of  the  Granicus  which  had  been 
carried  off  to  Rome  by  Metellus  and  set  up  in  the 
Portico  of  Octavia. 

{b)  Portraits  of  imperial  personages  from  Caesar 
to  Valentinian,  of  no  merit,  being  either  careful 
copies  of  coin  types — in  which  case  they  have  no 
original  value — or  else  perversions  in  a  debased 
manner  in  which  all  likeness  to  the  original  has 
been  lost. 

(c)  Victorious  grooms  or  charioteers,  interesting 
only  for  the  dress,  and  occasionally  the  names,  of 
those  represented. 

{d)  Heads  of  divinities — Sarapis,  Helios,  Apollo, 
Roma,  etc. — of  small  artistic  merit. 

{e)  Portraits  of  literary  characters,  familiar   to 

many   otherwise    ignorant  of   the  very  name   of 

contorniate  from  their  reproduction,  time  out  of 

mind,   as   authentic   portraits.     They   have    now 

dropped  out  of  books  of  any  serious  archaeological 

'■^  This  conclusion  is  based  (a)  on  the  character  of  the  designs 
and  the  analogies  they  offer  to  mosaics  and  other  dated  works  ; 
(b)  on  the  places  where  they  have  been  found  in  the  rare  cases 
where  a  record  of  the  discovery  has  been  kept  ;  (<)  on  the  fact, 
alluded  to  later,  that  no  emperor  later  than  470  a.d.  is  repre- 
sented, 


91 


On   Qontorniates 


pretension,  but  may  still  be  seen    in  text-books 
issued  by  publishers  who  should  know  better. 

The  list  of  those  thus  popularly  represented 
throws  some  light  on  the  literary  tastes  of  the 
Roman  public,  the  more  curious  that,  while  some 
of  the  names  are  just  what  would  be  expected, 
others  are  far  from  obvious.  Homer,  Solon, 
Pythagoras,'  Euripides,  Demosthenes,  Terence, 
Accius,'  Horace,  Sallust,  Apollonius  of  Tyana  and 
Apuleius  make  up  a  singular  company  ;  but  it  need 
hardly  be  said  that  their  value  as  portraits  is  ;;//. 
Horace,  for  instance— ORATIVS  (fig.  2) — wears 
the  consular  robes  of  the  fourth  century,  and  has 
lost  his  H  ;  Sallust— SALVSTIVS  AVTOR  (fig.  3) 
— appears  with  and  without  a  beard,  and  with  hair 
worn  as  no  one  wore  it  before  the  days  of  Con- 
stantine ;  while  the  head  of  Solon  is  taken  from 
the  famous  gem  commonly  called  a  portrait  of 
Maecenas,  signed  by  the  gem-cutter  Solon,  whose 
signature  the  artist  of  the  contorniate  has  taken  as 
a  description  of  the  portrait  ! 

The  head  of  Apuleius  (fig.  4)  looks  as  if  the  artist 
had  been  at  some  pains  to  get  up  his  subject, 
though  the  result  is  not  convincing.  Apuleius  in 
his  '  Apology '  has  left  an  account  of  his  own 
appearance  ;  he  was  something  of  a  dandy,  grace- 
ful in  person  and  conspicuous  for  his  golden  hair, 
which  he  wore  long  in  its  natural  curls.  The 
youthful  appearance  and  long  hair  are  duly  repre- 
sented ;  but  one  may  be  permitted  to  doubt  if  the 
elderly  widow,  Aemilia  Pudentilla,  would  have 
fallen  in  love  with  such  a  doll  as  the  artist  has 
here  made  him.  The  ivy  wreath  in  his  hair  may, 
it  has  been  suggested,  indicate  the  rank  of  Apuleius 
as  an  epopt,  or  one  fully  initiated  into  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries. 

So  much  for  the  principal  obverse  types.  Those 
on  the  reverse  are  of  much  greater  variety  and 
interest,  and  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  select 
a  few  specimens  of  the  more  important  classes  in 
which  they  may  be  arranged.  The  largest  and  in 
many  ways  the  least  interesting  class  shall  be  dealt 
with  first. 

This  consists  of  types  connected  with  the  circus 
and  amphitheatre.  Chief  among  these  come 
representations  of  victorious  chariots  or  single 
horses,  adorned  with  the  palms  they  have  won, 
and  attended  by  their  grooms  or  charioteers. 
Sometimes  the  names  of  these  are  given — Geron- 
tius,  Polystefanos,  Monimus  (=Monimos,  or 
steadfast).  Records  of  the  fierce  factions  of  which 
Gibbon  gives  so  vivid  an  account  in  their  later 
development  at  Constantinople  appear  in  the  in- 
scriptions IN  PRASINO,  IN  VENETO;  the  in- 
scriptions OLINPICVS  [sic)  or  OLVMPI  NIKA 
hint  at  still  greater  victories  ;  while  the  circus 
itself  is  shown  on  types  such  as  fig.  5,  in  which 
four  contending  chariots  race  round  the  course, 

^  Reverse  types,  but  treated,  for  convenience,  among  the  other 
portraits. 

92 


which  is  divided  by  the  low  wall  or  spina  adorned 
with  obelisk,  shrines  and  statues  (Cybele  on  her 
lion  may  be  seen  towards  the  left),  and  ending  in 
the  goals  with  their  three  conical  pillars.  Other 
contorniates  represent  gladiatorial  combats  or  (as 
in  that  representing  the  Colosseum)  tights  of  beast 
with  beast.  A  scene  in  a  box  at  the  amphitheatre 
will  be  described  among  the  scenes  from  daily 
life.  Hunting  scenes  are  a  favourite  subject,  and 
other  competitions  are  suggested  in  types  repre- 
senting victorious  organists  with  hand  or  hydraulic 
organs  (fig.  3,  rev.  with  the  inscription  PETRONI 
PLACEAS),*  and  figures  of  actresses  in  graceful 
poses  occur  more  than  once  ;  one  only  bears  a 
name,  MARGARITA.  But  as  a  whole  this  class 
is  uninteresting.  The  subjects  can  be  illustrated 
from  other  sources  ;  the  types  are  usually  common. 
It  is,  therefore,  better  to  pass  to  the  comparatively 
little  known,  only  remarking  that  it  is  no  insigni- 
ficant indication  of  popular  taste  that  circus  and 
similar  types  should  outnumber  the  whole  of  the 
other  subjects  represented. 

Representations  of  daily  life  are  far  from  com- 
mon, but  the  three  specimens  here  given  illustrate 
the  principal  features  of  Roman  life — business, 
pleasure,  and  religion. 

Fig.  6  represents  a  scene  at  a  banker's.  Within 
the  building,  which  is  indicated  by  two  columns 
spanned  by  a  decorated  arch,  a  man  stands  behind 
a  counter  heaped  with  coin  ;  on  either  side  a 
customer  (on  a  smaller  scale)  wrapped  in  a  toga 
stretches  out  his  hand  towards  the  money.  The 
banker  appears  to  be  deprecating  their  haste  or 
the  security  they  offer. 

Fig.  7  is  the  scene  at  the  amphitheatre  already 
alluded  to.  The  field  is  divided  into  two  parts ; 
in  the  upper,  five  spectators  are  leaning  on  the 
cushioned  ledge  of  their  box,  while  below  in  the 
arena  a  gladiator  is  fighting  with  a  wild  boar, 
holding  a  spear  in  one  hand  and  in  the  other  a 
movable  turnstile  with  which  to  protect  himself. 
In  the  background  is  another  gladiator.  Only  a 
total  ignorance  of  the  subject  of  contorniates  can 
have  kept  in  the  decent  obscurity  of  a  learned 
science  a  subject  so  adapted  to  the  popular 
moralist. 

Fig.  8,  the  religious  subject,  is  more  complex. 
In  the  middle  stands  a  laureated  figure  in  tunic 
and  long  cloak  holding  a  cock  and  turning  his 
head  to  look  at  a  small  bird  with  flapping  wings 
and  a  long  bill  which  is  perched  on  his  outstretched 
hand  ;  on  either  side  an  attendant  bends  down  to 
feed  a  long-necked  bird.  The  dress  and  attributes 
of    the    principal    personage    proclaim     him     a 

*  The  popularity  of  the  organ  for  its  own  sake  greatly  increased 
during  the  fourth  century,  though  its  earlier  and  baser  use  as 
an  accompaniment  to  gladiatorial  shows  still  continued.  The 
musicians  represented  in  fig.  3  with  hand  organ  and  flute 
suggest  such  a  concert  as  is  described  by  Martianus  Capella^ 
tibuirinn  iiitia  et  hyclnuilaniin  hannoiiica  //f;//7/((fi)— at  the 
wedding  of  Mercury  and  Philology. 


On   Qontorniates 


commander  about  to  take  the  auspices  before  a 
battle  from  the  flight  of  the  one  bird  (probably  a 
woodpecker)  and  the  feeding  of  the  other,  one  of 
the  sacred  cliickens,  that  convenient  portable 
oracle  which  accompanied  a  Roman  army  on  the 
march.  The  classical  instance  is,  of  course,  an 
incident  in  the  first  Punic  war,  when  P.  Claudius 
Pulcher,  hearing  that  the  sacred  chickens  would 
not  feed,  ordered  them  to  be  drowned,  and  in 
defiance  of  the  omen  proceeded  to  give  battle. 
Defeat  was,  of  course,  inevitable,  and  Cape  Drepana 
proved  a  naval  Cannae.  The  birds  fed  by  the 
attendants  on  the  contorniate  are  unmistakably 
geese,  therefore  the  sacred  geese  of  the  Capitol. 
Their  presence  does  not  suit  the  action  of  the 
central  figure,  but,  as  I  wrote  elsewhere,  'the  scene 
seems  to  be  rather  an  assemlily  of  sacred  birds, 
their  interpreters  and  attendants,  than  a  represen- 
tation of  any  single  act.'  Incidents  more  typical 
of  Roman  religion,  more  suggestive  of  familiar 
passages  of  Roman  history,  could  scarcely  have 
been  chosen. 

The  class  of  mythological  subjects  is  much 
more  numerous,  Homeric  subjects  being  particu- 
larly common.  Fig.  9  represents  Hephaestus  and 
the  armour  of  Achilles.  The  god,  clad  in  short 
chiton  and  workman's  cap,  sits  on  an  elaborately 
decorated  seat,  resting  his  lame  foot  upon  a  stool 
and  looking  at  the  completed  shield  which  rests 
on  a  tripod  before  him.  In  place  of  the  whole 
elaborate  design,  '  the  earth,  and  the  heavens,  and 
the  sea,  and  the  unwearying  sun,  and  the  moon 
waxing  to  the  full,  and  the  signs  every  one  where- 
with the  heavens  are  crowned,  Pleiads  and  Hyads 
and  Orion's  night,  and  the  Bear  that  men  call  the 
Wain,  her  that  turneth  in  her  place  and  watcheth 
Orion,  and  alone  hath  no  part  in  the  baths  of 
Ocean,'  °  the  heads  of  the  sun  and  moon  occupy 
the  centre  of  the  shield,  while  around,  in  place  of 
the  constellations,  are  the  twelve  signs  of  the 
zodiac.  Behind  Hephaestus  is  the  sword  of 
Achilles,  and  above,  in  the  background,  perhaps  as 
his  patron  goddess,  is  a  figure  of  Athena  leaning 
on  her  spear. 

Fig.  10 — Achilles  supporting  the  dying  Penthe- 
silea.  The  Amazon  has  fallen  from  her  horse,  and 
her  lifeless  body  is  supported  by  Achilles's  arm. 
She  wears  a  Phrygian  cap  and  long  chiton,  and 
her  crescent-shaped  shield  is  slipping  from  her 
arm. 

Fig.  II — Odysseus  escaping  from  the  cav'e  of 
Polyphemus.  The  hero,  holding  fast  by  the  thick 
fleece,  clings  to  the  belly  of  the  long-tailed  ram, 
who,  with  the  perversity  of  his  kind,  pauses  to 
drink  at  a  runlet  of  water  flowing  (from  an  in- 
visible source)  into  a  trough,  whose  base  is 
decorated  with  a  figure  of  Hercules  wielding  his 
club.  In  the  background  is  a  tree.  The  name 
OLEXIVS  inscribed  round  the  design  is  a 
'  I.    Trans.  E.  Myers. 


blundered  and  apparently  phonetic  rendering  of 
ULIXES.« 

Fig.  12 — Odysseus  and  Circe.  Odysseus  stands 
in  a  threatening  attitude  over  the  enchantress, 
who,  crowned  and  richly  dressed,  kneels  at  his 
feet  imploring  mercy.  Behind  her  is  a  sty,  built 
of  great  stones  and  iron  bars,  between  which 
appear  three  beast-headed  creatures  turning  their 
heads  entreatingly  towards  their  leader.  It  is  not 
very  long  since  this  type  was  described  as  follows: 
'  Une  femrae  a  genoux,  dont  la  tete  est  ornce  d'une 
couronne,  implore  la  pilie  d'un  gladiateur  ou  d'un 
employe  de  I'amphitheatre,  debout  et  tourne  ;i 
droite.  Sur  le  second  plan,  a  droite  et  au  haut 
d'un  mur,  on  voit  trois  animaux  feroces  debout 
dans  les  loges  separees  par  des  compartiments. 
L'artiste  a  voulu  peut-etre  representer  une  chre- 
tienne  condamnee  aux  betes  et  portant  deja  la 
couronne  du  martyre.'  This  is  no  unusual  example 
of  the  way  in  which  the  picturesque  interpretation 
commended  itself  to  the  most  learned  when  the 
'amphitheatre  ticket'  theory  of  contorniates  was 
in  vogue. 

On  a  unique  but  badly-preserved  contorniate 
in  Vienna  the  Sirens,  a  rare  subject  in  ancient 
art,  are  represented,  one  seated  on  a  rock  playing 
the  double  flute,  another  standing  and  holding  a 
lyre  ;  the  outline  of  the  third  is  almost  obliterated, 
and  the  whole  is  very  indistinct. 

There  are  several  varieties  of  fig.  13,  Scylla  and 
Charybdis,  and,  though  the  main  features  are 
constant,  the  details  vary  considerably.  In  the 
first  place,  as  usual  in  ancient  art,  Scylla  has 
ceased  to  be  the  six-headed  monster  who  could 
devour  six  men,  the  hardiest  of  their  bands  and 
the  chief  in  might,  as  a  fisher  lets  down  his  baits 
for  a  snare  to  the  little  fishes  below  and  as  he 
catches  each  flings  it  writhing  ashore,  and  has 
become  Virgil's 

pulchro  pectore  virgo 

Pube  tenus,  postrema  immani  corpore  pistrix 

Delphinum  caudas  utero  commissa  luporum. 

In  this  form,  her  long  tails  curling  out  of  the 
water  to  left  and  right,  she  seizes  one  of  Odysseus's 
comrades  by  the  hair,  while  a  second  prepares  to 
attack  her  from  the  deck.  In  her  left  hand  she 
holds  a  rudder.  Other  Greeks  are  struggling  in 
the  troubled  waters,  whom  the  wolves  round  her 
waist  are  striving  to  seize  and  devour.  Above, 
and  looking  not  unlike  another  tail,  is  the  typical 
contorniate  tree,  here  the  fig  tree  that  grew  on 
the  rocks  above  Charybdis.  The  tossing  waters 
below,  with  their  sudden  swirl  to  the  right,  doubt- 
less represent  the  whirlpool  itself  'which  thrice  a 
day  sucked  in  black  waters  and  thrice  belched 
them  forth.' 

Before  passing  on    it  is   worth   remarking  tiiat 
the   predominance   of   subjects   taken    from    the 
'  The  circular  marks  at  top  and  bottom  arc  due  to  piercing. 


93 


On  Qontorniates 


Odyssey  is  a  marked  feature  of  other  works  of  art 
representing  Homeric  legends.  Contorniates  as 
objects  essentially  popular  in  character  afford  a 
decisive  test  of  the  relative  popularity  of  Iliad  and 
Odyssey,  and  it  is  thoroughly  in  keeping  that  the 
two  subjects  derived  from  the  former  should  refer 
to  the  legend  of  Achilles. 

Several  other  types  may  be  intended  to  illustrate 
famous  literary  descriptions— t'.rf.,  a  Laocoon  type 
which  differs  completely  from  the  celebrated 
group,  and  can,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  an 
independent  illustration  to  Virgil,  just  as  a  figure 
of  Philoctetes  nursing  his  wounded  foot  on  the 
barren  rock  of  Lemnos  (an  interpretation  of  the 
present  writer)  may  be  an  attempt  to  realize  the 
wounded  hero  of  Sophocles  ;  but  the  only  subject 
which  can  be  said  with  certainty  to  illustrate  a 
literary  episode  other  than  Homeric  is  fig.  14,  a 
unique  contorniate  in  the  British  Museum,  which 
has  given  rise  to  much  misinterpretation.  In  the 
centre  stands  a  bearded  figure  with  tall  head-dress 
and  high-girt  robe,  stretching  out  his  right  hand 
aimlessly  :  his  left  rests  on  the  head  of  a  child  at  his 
side.  One  remarkable  feature  of  the  design — the 
props  on  which  the  figures  stand — appears  to  have 
escaped  notice,  though  in  them  the  writer  was  for- 
tunate enough  to  recognize  the  clue  to  the  meaning 
of  the  whole.  They  are  cotJniriii,  and  the  high 
head-dress  and  flowing  robe  with  deep  bands  of 
embroidery  are  the  familiar  properties  of  the  tragic 
stage.  The  importance  of  gesture  in  ancient 
tragedy  is  well  known  ;  the  acting  of  the  principal 
figure — the  groping  hand  and  the  support  given 
by  the  child — can  only  indicate  blindness.  The 
situation  of  a  blind  father  leaning  on  his  child  is 
found  in  two  famous  plays,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
'  Oedipus  Coloneus,'  where  the  king  addresses  his 
daughter  as 

Antigone,  child  of  a  blind  old  man, 
and  in  the  '  Phoenissae,' '  where  Teiresias  appears 
leaning  on  his  daughter  Manto  and  saying,  in  the 
words  of  George  Gascoigne's  translation,  or  rather 
version,  '  locasta' — the  second  blank  verse  play  in 
English,  by  the  way,  and  the  first  Greek  play  to 
be  produced  on  the  English  stage  : — 

Thou  trustie  guide  of  my  so  trustlesse  steppes, 
Deer  daughter  mine,  go  we,  lead  thou  the  way, 
That  since  the  day  I  first  did  leeve  this  light, 
Thou  only  art  the  light  of  these  mine  eyes  ; 
And  for  thou  knowst  I  am  both  old  and  weake 
And  ever  longing  after  lovely  rest, 
Derect  my  steppes  amyd  the  playnest  pathes. 
That  so  my  febled  feete  may  feele  less  paine. 
Between  these  two  there  can  be  no  hesitation. 
Representations    of     tragic    drama    other     than 
Euripidean  are  of   extreme  rarity ;  the  plays  of 

'  The  '  Phoenissae  '  of  Seneca  is  out  of  the  question,  as,  apart 
{rom  the  extreme  rarity  of  representations  of  scenes  from  his 
plays,  Manto  is  in  his  version  not  a  child  but  a  woman,  her 
father's  counsellor  as  well  as  support. 

94 


Sophocles  in  particular  were  almost  unknown  in 
Roman  times,  and  it  is  therefore  most  improbable 
that  on  objects  so  essentially  popular  in  character 
as  contorniates  a  scene  from  an  obsolete  dramatist 
should  be  represented.  The  '  Phoenissae,'  on  the 
other  hand,  was  one  of  the  most  popular  tragedies 
of  the  always  popular  Euripides.  There  is,  then, 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  in  fig.  14  we  have  an 
actual  scene  from  a  Euripidean  play  as  represented 
on  the  later  Roman  stage. 

There  is  also  a  great  variety  of  other  mytho- 
logical types,  including  many  of  the  most  familiar 
legends  :  Hero  and  Leander,  Bellerophon  and  the 
Chimaera,  Diana  and  Endymion,  the  exploits  of 
Theseus  and  Heracles,  and  single  figures  of  gods 
and  heroes ;  in  fact,  popular  taste  in  legend 
appears  to  have  altered  little  in  the  last  eighteen 
hundred  years. 

Fig.  15,  a  unique  contorniate  in  the  British 
Museum,  represents  Heracles  in  the  dress  of 
Omphale,  holding  a  distaff  from  which  he  draws 
the  thread  ;  at  his  feet  stands  a  little  Cupid- 
allegory  was  dear  to  the  Roman  heart — and  around 
is  an  inscription  of  the  mongrel  sort  already 
referred  to,  VRANI  NICA  MVNIO— z.c,  Uranius» 
may  you  win  the  prize.* 

Fig.  16,  a  vigorous  and  well-composed  group, 
represents  Jason,  his  short  cloak  fluttering  from 
his  shoulders,  taming  the  brazen  bulls  of  Aeetes  to 
plough  the  Colchian  field  and  sow  the  dragon's 
teeth.  In  the  exergue,  seen  in  profile,  is  the  very 
primitive  plough.' 

Fig.  17  represents  Heracles  struggling  with  the 
Cretan  bull.  The  paws  of  his  lion-skin  float 
behind,  its  mask  lies  on  his  shoulders.  This 
group,  like  the  last,  is  admirably  designed  for  its 
circular  field. 

Fig.  18  is  a  legend  familiar  to  all  who  have 
visited  the  Museum  at  Naples,  under  the  name  of 
the  Farnese  Bull  or  the  Punishment  of  Dirce,  a 
queen  who  was  bound  by  her  stepsons,  Zethus 
and  Amphion,  to  a  wild  bull,  to  revenge  her 
cruelty  towards  their  mother,  Antiope.  Several 
frescoes  of  the  subject  exist  at  Pompeii,  but  the 
composition  of  the  contorniate,  though  omitting 
the  accessories,  is  nearer  the  '  Farnese  Bull '  in  the 
action  of  the  principal  figures  than  any  other 
representation,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
it  is  immediately  derived  from  the  group,  which 
was  famous  enough  to  be  rhetorically  described 
by  Pliny." 

Yet  other  mythological  groups  represent  Cybele 
and  Attis,  Bacchic  processions,  figures  of  Apollo, 
Hecate,  Roma ;  and  several  interesting  subjects 
still  await  explanation.  Purely  Roman  legends, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  surprisingly  few  :  Hercules 

'  The  interpretations  of  tigs.  15  and  16  are  those  of  the  present 
writer. 

•It  should  be  said  that  a  second  contorniate  type  exists  which 
is  much  less  close  to  the  original  group. 


1.  1.   2    2. 


3    3.  4.  5. 


6.  7    8    9. 


10,  12.  11.  13. 


4. 15. 16   17 


t 


18.  19. 


^ 


contok.m.vtkj 


^1 


DOXXA  CEAX   BERMUDEZ,    BY   GOYA.      IN"    THE 
POSSESSION      OF       HEUN       MIETHKK,      VIEXXA 


PICTURES   BY   GOY'A   AT  THE   MIETHKE 
GALLERY,      VIENXA.  PLATE    I 


On    Contorniates 


and  his  wife  Roma,  daughter  of  Evander,  the 
Wolf  and  Twins,  the  Rape  of  the  Sabines,  the 
inevitable  Aeneas  escaping  from  Troy  (fig.  19), 
which  might,  but  for  its  occurrence  "on  earh'er 
coins,  be  regarded  as  an  illustration  to  Mirg'A—ct 
praderca  nihil.  The  Aeneas  group,  however,  has 
some  real  humour  in  the  gesture  of  Ascanius,  the 
fingers  of  his  right  hand  open,  as  he  is  dragged  along. 
After  those  centuries  of  undue  reputation  for  the 
valueless  portrait  types  and  inexplicable  neglect  for 
the  rest,  the  scientific  study  of  contorniates  is  at 
last  beginning.  Something  has  already  been  done 
to  elucidate  the  more  interesting  subjects,  but 
much  is  still  obscure.  Moreover,  so  many  of  the 
rarer  types  are  represented  by  a  single  specimen 


that  others  may  well  exist,  hidden  away  perhaps 
since  the  palmy  days  of  contorniate-collecting  in 
forgotten  cabinets.  The  national  collection  is 
chiefly  derived  from  the  cabinet  of  an  eighteenth- 
century  Earl  of  Exeter  ;  if  other  collectors  would 
follow  his  example,  or  would  communicate  any 
unpublished  types  in  their  possession,  our  know- 
ledge might  be  substantially  increased.  It  is  with 
the  hope  of  eliciting  such  aid  that  the  present 
paper  has  been  written." 

'°  I  wish  to  acknowledge  the  kindness  of  Mr.  H.  A.  Grueber 
Keeper  of  Coins  and  Medals  at  the  British  Museum,  for  per- 
mission to  reproduce  the  contorniates  illustrated  in  this 
paper,  with  the  exception  of  fig. ;  12,  taken  from  a  cast  of  the 
unique  specimen  in  the  Bibliolheque  Nationale  kindly  furnished 
by  M.  Ernest  Babelon. 


^  NOTES  ON  VARIOUS  WORKS  OF   ART  nk, 


PICTURES   BY  GOYA  AT  THE   GALERIE 
MIETHKE,  VIENNA 

The  exhibition  of  pictures  by  Goya  now  on  view 
at  the  Miethke  Gallery,  Vienna,  is  probably  one 
of  the  finest  ever  seen. 

Among  the  early  pictures  there  is  the  portrait 
of  the  torero  P.  Romero,  a  replica  of  which,  now 
in  the  Huntington   collection',  has  already  been 
discussed  in  The  Burlington  Magazine'.    The 
picture,  dating    about    1780,  is   rather  hard  and 
stolid  in   the  painting  of  the  flesh  tints,  but  the 
dress  is  exquisitely  resolved  info  simple,  flat  tones 
painted  with  a  remarkable  eye  for  values      The 
portrait   of  the  wife   of   the   art-historian,    Cean 
Bermudez,  must  be  ranked  among  the  very  finest 
work  Goya  ever  produced.     It  was  formerly  in 
he  collection  of  the  Marquis  Casa  Torrez,  once 
the  biggest  Goya  collector  in  Spain.     This  mag- 
nihcent   life-size  portrait  of   the   lady,  seated,   is 
painted  piquantly  and  with  a  remarkable  lightness 
of  touch.    It  IS  as  if  the  brush  had  simply  fluttered 
over  the  canvas,  and,  in  spite  of  the  smallness  of 
tlie  eftort,  we  gain  an  impression  of  the  supreme 
htness  of  everything  that  has  been  done.     Then 
there  is  a  magnificent  late  portrait  of  an  officer  in 
mihtai-y  uniform,  one  of  the  few  works  signed  by 
Goya  in    full.      The   signature  reads,  '  Fluctibus 
Reipubhcae  expulsis  Pintado  p'  Goya  181  c  '    It  is 
what  one  would  have  called  'asphalty '  a  decade 
or  two  ago  ;  but  the  blacks  are  wonderfully  lumi- 
nous, and  It  IS  probably  one  of  the  earliest  instances 
ot  the  art  of  converting  black  into  a  colour,  so  to 
speak.      In   its  magnificent  deep  coloration  and 
the  triad  of  black,  red  and  gold  it  is  prophetic  of 
Daumier  and    Delacroix.     A  very  late   paintin^t 
representing  the  arrest  of  a  Maml'a  in  the  street  Ts 
curious  as  being  one  of  Goya's  rare  large-sized 
'  A  comparison  of  large  scale  photographs  seems  to  indicate 

of  ;^hiroKit^.LEr  ""^'°"'^  ^'^ ''""  ■■=  '^«  "^"-  -^^^ 

^  Vol.  xii,  pp.  232.233,  January,  1908. 


genre  subjects— it  measures  about  4  ft.  by  7  ft. 

but  it  is  not  altogether  pleasing.     Of  the  figures 
seen  to  the  knees,  the  woman  is  quite  to  the  right, 
with    the    sergeant   behind    her,    while   his   two 
attendants    to     the    left   seem     to    be    ready   to 
manacle  the  lady,  and  one  of  them  turns  a  dark- 
lantern  on  her.    The  painting  evidently  was  meant 
to  be  Rembrandtesque,  but  is  not  quite  successful  ; 
the  technique  is  rather  in  the  nature  of  a  rough- 
and-ready  sketch,  except    for    the   lace   mantilla 
which  the  woman  holds  up  to  hide  her  face— this 
IS  admirably  painted.      Among  further  important 
canvases,  I  note  a  full-length    life-size  portrait  of 
General  Don  Tadeo  Bravo  de  Rivero,  signed  'Don 
Tadeo  Bravo  de  Rivero  por  su  am.  Goya,   1806  '  ; 
a  three-quarter  length  of   the   Marquesa  de  San 
Andres,  formerly  in  the  R.  Garcia  collection  at 
Madrid,  painted  about  1780;  one  of  Goya's  many 
portraits  of  Queen  Maria  Louisa  ;    two  small  Don 
Quixote  scenes  ;  and  two  gruesome  subjects,  one 
representing  a  man  hanged  by  the  neck,  the  other 
an  execution  by  fusilade. 

Don  Aureliano  de  Beruete,  the  well-known 
Velazquez  specialist,  has  lent  to  the  show  thirty- 
eight  splendid  original  drawings  by  Goya.  Most 
of  these  are  to  be  published  in  a  new  volume 
on  Goya.  Two  Viennese  collectors,  Dr.  Julius 
Hofmann— the  author  of  the  capital  catalogue  of 
the  mivre  of  Goya— and  Mr.  G.  Eissler,  contri- 
buted first  editions  of  all  the  four  etched  series  ; 
from  them  and  from  other  sources  various  further 
rare  Goya  prints  were  secured,  including  several 
unedited  plates  for  the  Dcsastrcs  and  the  Provcrbios 
and  some  of  the  lithographs  of  the  Toros  de  Bordeos 
set. 

The  mere  enumeration  of  the  works  which  form 
this  exhibition— the  list  I  havegiven  is  by  no  means 
complete— suffices  to  prove  that  it  is  the  most 
important  show  for  Goya  students  ever  arrant^ed 
outside  Spain.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will^be 
made  accessible  to  people  elsewhere  besides  Vienna. 

Hans  W.  Singer, 


99 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

THE  PLATE  OF  THE  FORMER  ENGLISH 

CHURCH  AT  THE  HAGUE 
About  the  year  1820  the  English  church  in  The 
Hague,  situated  in  the  Nordeiside,  and  formerly 
the'Chapel  of  the  Oude  Mannehuis— an  ancient 
establishment  for  giving  pensions  and  lodging  to 
old  men — was  abolished  in  a  somewhat  arbitrary 
manner  by  royal  decree  of  the  king  of  Holland, 
after  having  been  used  as  an  English  church  since 
tlie  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  it  was  given 
for  the  use  of  Leicester's  troops  on  their  landing 
in  Holland. 

A  volume  of  the  Register,  of  which  the  remain- 
ing volumes  have  long  been  in  the  possession  of 
the  British  Legation,  the  church  books  and  Sacra- 
mental Vessels'  were  handed  over  at  this  time  to 
the  care  of  the  Dutch  Church  authorities,  with 
the  proviso  that,  should  they  at  any  time  be 
required  by  the  chaplain  of  the  English  Legation 
in  The  Hague,  the  authorities  in  question  would 
be  allowed  to  deliver  them  up.  These  Vessels 
were  kept  in  a  strong  iron  box  in  the  Board  room 
of  an  orphanage  connected  with  the  Groote  (St. 
Jacob's)  Kerk,  when  about  the  year  1904  I  drew 
attention  to  them,  being  at  that  time  Secretary  of 
Legation  in  The  Hague.  The  church  authorities 
were  at  first  unwilling  to  give  up  these  Vessels  and 
Books  on  the  ground  that  the  Anglican  church  of 
1904  did  not  represent  the  church  abolished  in 
1820,  which  they  maintained  (whether  correctly 
or  not  is  a  matter  of  doubt)  to  have  been  a 
Presbyterian  church. 

Sir  Henry  Howard,  British  Minister  in  The 
Hague,  made  a  representation  on  the  subject  to 
the  Dutch  Foreign  Office,  with  the  result  that  a 
royal  decree  was  eventually  passed  handing  over 
the  Register,  Books  and  Plate,  not  to  the  English 

'  Described  and  illustrated  in  the  article  by  Mr.  Alfred  E, 
Jones  :  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xiii,  pp.  28,  29,  33, 
April  190S. 


cA.  LETTERS  TO 

THE  PORTRAIT  OF  JACQUELINE  DE 
BOURGOGNE,  BY  MABUSE 

To  the  Editor  of  The  Burlington  Magazine. 

Dear  Sir, — Yesterday  I  received  the  last  ninriber 
of  The  Burlington  Magazine,  from  which  I 
learnt  that  the  charming  portrait  of  a  little  girl  by 
Mabuse  has  entered  the  National  Gallery,  which 
must  be  highly  congratulated  on  the  purchase. 
The  following  historical  notes  will  show  that  this 
portrait  is  even  more  valuable  than  was  suspected 
hitherto.  If  I  did  not  attract  attention  to  them  at 
tlie  time  of  the  Bruges  exhibition,  it  was  because 
I  then  lioped  the  picture  might  yet  be  acquired  at 
the  sale  by  a  Belgian  museum. 

Mr.  Heseltine's  remark  about  the  child's  mouth 
is  quite  right,  but  not  his  conclusion  in  favour  of 
Isabeau,  sister  of  Charles  V  and  afterwards  queen 
of  Denmark,  who  liad  an  altogether  different 
appearance. 


Church,  but  to  the  British  Legation,  where  it  is 
now  in  safe  keeping. 

I  also  discovered  the  whereabouts  of  these  cups 

during  the  time  I  was  at  the  Legation  in  the  Hague, 

knowing    of    their    existence   through    Stevens's 

'  History  of  the  Scotch  Church,  Rotterdam,'  1832. 

Arthur  F.  G.  Leveson  Gower. 

THE   REPORTED    PICTURE    FORGERIES 

AT  MUNICH 
In  connexion  with  the  recent  action  at  Munich 
concerning  the  sale  of  forged  pictures,  the  Press, 
both  in  Germany  and  abroad,  have  for  some  time 
been  spreading  reports  which  represent  the  scope 
of  these  operations  as  very  important.  Further, 
it  has  been  stated  that  '  most  of  the  forgeries ' 
have  been  sold  to  England  and  America,  and 
also  that  amongst  the  suspects  are  several  '  highly 
esteemed  and  famous  Munich  art  dealers,'  as  well 
as  Munich  artists.  In  the  interest  of  the  reputa- 
tion of  Munich,  we,  the  undersigned,  have  taken 
the  trouble  to  procure  official  information  and 
are  able  to  make  the  following  statements  : — 

1.  As  to  forging  pictures — one  person  only  is 
suspected,  and  he  has  nothing  at  all  to  do  profes- 
sionally with  the  fine  arts. 

2.  As  to  the  sale  of  forged  pictures — with  the 
exception  of  two  arrested  dealers  and  a  third, 
whose  whereabouts  are  still  unknown,  no  person 
is  suspected,  who  has  any  professional  connexion 
with  the  fine  arts. 

3.  Evidence  that  forged  pictures  have  been  sold 
to  England  or  America  is  up  till  now  entirely 
wanting  ;  still  less  is  there  any  evidence  that  the 
figures  published  as  to  these  forgeries  and  their 
prices  are  correct. 

Prof.  Hans  v.  Petersen,  D.  Heinemann, 

Hugo  Freiherr  v.  Habermann,    A.  Riegner, 
Prof.  Fritz  Baer,  Wimmer  &  Co., 

E.  A.  Fleischmanns. 


THE  EDITOR  d^ 

The  so-called  Habsburg  type  is  composed  of 
two  elements  :  the  projecting  jaw,  which  comes 
from  the  Habsburgs  and  belonged,  for  instance, 
to  Maximilian  ;  and  the  peculiar  form  of  the  lips 
(without  prognathism)  which  was  inherited  from 
the  Burgundian  side — viz.,  from  Mary  of  Burgundy, 
Maximilian's  wife. 

This  later  peculiarity  is  alone  to  be  found  in 
the  child's  face,  as  is  often  the  case  among  the 
members  of  the  collateral  illegitimate  branches  of 
the  Burgundy  family. 

Jacqueline  de  Bourgogne  was  the  youngest 
daughter  of  Adolfe  de  Bourgogne,  lord  of  Beveren 
and  Veere,  and  Anne  de  Bergnes.  Adolfe  himself 
was  the  son  of  Philippe,  lord  of  Beveren,  by  Anne 
de  Borssele,  and  grandson  of  Antoine,  called  '  le 
Grand  Batard  de  Bourgogne,'  by  Jeanne  de  la 
Vidall.  This  celebrated  warrior  was  one  of  the 
eldest  natural  sons  of  Philippe  le  Bon.     In  conse- 


100 


THI-.    AKl;l'Sl    o|.     A    MAMiLA.    I;Y    i.uYA.         I\ 
THE  I'OSSESSiUN  CIF  IlliKK  MIETHKK,  VIKXNA 


PICTl'KES  BY   GOYA    AT   THE   MIETIIKE 
GALI-EKY,      VIENNA.  I'l.ATK      II 


,o 


"b 


Letters  to  the  Editor 


quence,  Adolfe  of  Burgundy,  the  child's  father, 
was  a  second-cousin  of  Charles  V. 

Now  the  interesting  fact  is  that  this  Adolfe,  lord 
of  Veere,  was  a  well-known  patron  of  Mabuse 
(see  Carel  van  Mander),  who  is  known  to  have 
painted  the  Virgin  and  Child  after  the  lady  of  Veere 
and  her  young  son.  At  present  I  have  not  made 
the  necessary  researches,  but  by  the  apparent  age 
of  the  child  it  will  be  easy  to  assign  a  more  exact 
date  to  the  picture.  It  cannot  be  far  from  1520, 
judging  by  the  dress. 

The  charming  portrait,  now  in  the  National 
Gallery,  when  I  first  discovered  it  at  Paris,  imme- 
diately reminded  me  of  another  well-known 
portrait,  that  of  a  lady  composed  exactly  in  the 
same  way  on  a  clear  coloured  background,  with  a 
painted  false-frame,  formerly  attributed  to  Scorel, 
but  evidently  by  Mabuse,  which  Justi  also  erro- 
neously believed  to  represent  Isabeau  of  Austria. 

This  portrait  now  belongs  to  Mrs.  Gardner  at 
Boston.  I  am  told  another  copy  belongs  to  Lord 
Brownlow.'  If  this  be  the  case,  it  would  be  inte- 
resting to  compare  them  and  ascertain  which  is 
the  original. 

The  lady  is  dressed  in  the  French  fashion,  which 
at  first  misled  me,  but  lately  I  discovered  her 
identity.  She  is  Anne  de  Bergnes,  wife  of  Adolfe 
of  Burgundy,  and  mother  of  the  little  girl,  as  is 
proved  by  the  copy  made  by  the  presumed  Jacques 
Le  Bourg  in  the  Recueil  de  portraits  of  the  Arras 
library.  These  two  portraits,  manifestly  painted 
at  the  same  time,  afford  an  important  contribution 
to  the  history  of  Mabuse's  art. 

Georges  H.  de  Loo. 

HERRI  MET  DE  BLES 
To  the  Editor  of  The  Burlington  Magazine. 
Sir, — By  the  light  of  the  two  illustrations  of 
the  Flemish  panels  in  the  Hutchinson  and 
Pourtales  collections,  given  in  the  March 
Burlington  Magazine,  we  can,  I  think,  make 
out  something  in  that  obscure  region  of  art 
known  as  Herri  Met  de  Bles.  Not,  indeed,  of  a 
nature  to  lighten  materially  the  obscurity,  but  still 
a  fairly  definite  fact.  An  Adoration  of  the  Kings, 
labelled  '  Herri  Met  de  Bles,'  was  lent  by  Messrs. 
Duveen  to  the  Winter  Exhibition  at  Burlington 
House.  It  is,  in  my  opinion,  clearly  by  the 
painter  of  the  Hutchinson  panels,  concerning 
whose  relation  to  the  Pourtales  couple  Messrs. 
Hulin  and  Kenyon  Cox  completely  differ.  Their 
difference  is  interesting,  but  if  the  evidence  here 
propounded  be  admissible,  as  to  the  identity  of 
authorship  in  Messrs.  Duveen's  and  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son's examples,  the  acceptance  of  M.  Hulin's  view 
will  come  more  easily.  For  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  this  Adoration  of  the  Kings  is  inferior  in  spirit 
and  in  craft  to  the  simpler  Pourtales  work,  and  of 

'  By  the  courtesy  of  Earl  Hrownlow  we  are  enabled  to  state 
that  the  size  and  composition  of  his  portrait  agree  with  those 
of  Mrs.  Gardner's  version. — Ed. 


a  later  date.  Reference  to  the  costumes  and 
architectural  detail  abundantly  shows,  in  the 
former,  the  weaknesses  of  ornament  elaborated  for 
the  sake  of  elaboration.  The  painter  has  solely 
been  concerned  with  devising  an  oriental  splendour 
that  he  had  not  studied  and  did  not  understand. 
His  sense  of  linear  form  in  the  Hutchinson  and 
the  Duveen  exarnples  is,  in  the  actual  features, 
more  correct  than  is  that  of  the  Pourtales  panels. 
But  in  the  latter  the  broader  and  more  solid 
modelling  is  apparent.  The  drawing  of  the  figure 
and  of  hands  and  feet  in  the  two  former  is  quite 
poor,  especially  in  the  Adoration.  The  perfunc- 
torily careless  handling  of  the  less  important  people 
is  marked. 

The  points  of  practically  identical  workmanship 
and  idea  in  the  Hutchinson  (Chicago)  panels  and 
this  Adoration  triptych  are  briefly  as  follows  : — 
The  mannerism  of  drapery  painting  seen  in  the 
Queen  of  Sheba's  dress  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
African  king's  and  the  king's  in  the  dexter  shutter 
of  the  triptych.  In  these  the  treatment  is  broader 
than  in  the  Queen  of  Sheba  of  the  Pourtales 
(Paris)  work.  In  the  background  of  the  sinister 
shutter  of  the  triptych  a  bronze  armoured  figure, 
as  in  the  Chicago  example,  adorns  a  pillar's 
capital,  which  in  both  instances  is  supported 
by  an  ornament  of  a  cupid's  head.  Both 
examples  have  an  identical  acanthus  moulding 
above  the  pillars.  The  triptych  displays  its 
painter's  liking  for  an  ornament  of  a  ram's 
head.  He  uses  it  in  his  architecture,  on  a 
warrior's  breastplate,  on  a  large  shield  in  the  centre 
panel,  and  as  a  design  in  the  costly  goblet  the 
dexter  king  is  bringing.  This  ram's  head  is 
employed  in  the  Chicago  piece  as  the  decoration 
of  a  capital.  A  conspicuous  presence  in  the 
Duveen  Adoration  is  the  investiture  of  the  kings 
with  almost  mayoral  chains  ;  it  is  present,  too,  in 
the  Hutchinson  example.  None  of  these  instances 
of  ornateness  occurs  in  the  Paris  panels.  In  them 
the  base  of  the  pillar  stands  solidly  and  structurally 
on  the  pavement.  Round  the  foot  a  simple  fluted 
pattern  runs.  The  painter  of  the  triptych — and 
this,  I  think,  is  eloquent  of  his  degeneracy — splays 
out  the  base  of  his  arch-supporting  pillar,  fashioning 
it  like  the  foot  of  a  chalice,  and  decorates  it  with 
a  fluting  which  would  only  be  in  keeping  with 
some  such  piece  of  thin  metal  work.  In  the 
Chicago  panel  of  David  receiving  the  Water  from 
Bethlehem  the  pillar  that  should  maintain  his 
throne  is  thus  splaj'ed  and  fluted.  In  the 
Pourtal6s  illustration  it  stands  cylindrically,  of 
equal  diameter  with  the  shaft. 

Lastly,  it  is,  I  think,  indisputable  that  the  tassels 
and  the  slashed  sleeves  and  ornate  greaves  which 
are  so  conspicuous  in  the  Hutchinson  shutters 
and  the  Duveen  triptych  are  calculated  additions 
to  the  simpler  dress  of  the  Pourtal(§s  specimen.  In 
that  we  see  the  ermined  robe,  unhung  with  tassels. 


105 


Letters  to  the  Editor 

In  the  Hutchinson  work  we  see  this  robe  tasseled, 
and  in  the  triptych  the  kneehng  king  is  Hberally 
hung  and  ermined. 

The  comparison  of  these  things,  and  others  such 
as  the  habit  of  the  sleeves  and  the  rather  boorish 
character,  in  the  triptych  and  the  Hutchinson 
shutters,  of  some  of  the  heads,  seems  to  justify  M. 
Huhn's  contention  that  the  Paris  panels  inspired 
those  now  in  Chicago.  In  the  triptych  the 
inclusion  of  an  enormous  straw  hat,  recalling 
Pisanello  to  our  mind,  is  noteworthy.  On  the 
hem  of  a  robe  appearing  from  beneath  a  fold  the 
characters  MASO  present  a  speculation. 

C.  H.  Collins  Baker. 

SILVER  PLATE  MADE  AT  KING'S  LYNN 
To  the  Editor  of  The  BURLINGTON  Magazine. 
Sir,— While  reading  in  your  issue  of  last 
December '  an  article  by  Mr.  E.  Alfred  Jones  upon 
the  Old  English  Plate  at  the  Church  Congress  held 
at  Great  Yarmouth  last  autumn,  I  made  a  note 
upon  one  passage  which  I  intended  to  send  to  you. 
As  fate  would  have  it  I  laid  the  note  aside  with  a 
mass  of  other  papers,  and  then  forgot  all  about  it. 
Having  now  come  upon  it  again  I  send  it  to  you, 
albeit  belated,  believing  that  it  will  interest  all 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  subject  of  Mr.  Jones's 
article,  and  they  must  be  many. 

Mr.  Jones  mentions  among  the  exhibits  in  the 
Great  Yarmouth  collection  a  communion  cup 
belonging  to  Middleton  Church,  near  King's  Lynn, 
which  is  inscribed  with  the  date  1632,  and  which 
is  marked  with  the  town-mark  of  King's  Lynn. 
Following  hitherto  published  statistics,  Mr.  Jones 

» See  The  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xii,  No.  57,  p.  135. 
December,  1907. 


proceeds  to  say  :  '  This  interesting  example  brings 
the  total  number  of  known  pieces  with  the  King's 
Lynn  mark  to  three,  the  others  being  the  two 
church  vessels  enumerated  by  Mr.  Jackson' 
('  English  Goldsmiths  and  their  Marks'). 

The  three  examples  thus  referred  to  do  not 
constitute  the  total  number  of  known  examples  of 
plate  bearing  the  King's  Lynn  mark.  I  know  other 
examples  among  the  church  plate  in  Norfolk,  and 
I  dare  say  more  still  will  come  to  light  when  all 
the  deaneries  of  that  county  have  been  thoroughly 
explored.  I  suppose  it  is  no  secret  that  the  Rev. 
E.  C.  Hopper,  whose  name  is  so  well  known  in 
connexion  with  the  cataloguing  of  the  church  plate 
of  Suffolk,  is  now  engaged  upon  similar  work  in 
Norfolk. 

The  maker's  mark — an  H  with  a  W  below — 
upon  the  Middleton  cup  can  scarcely  be  other 
than  the  mark  of  William  Howlett,  silversmith  of 
King's  Lynn,  who  was  working  there  at  the  period 
indicated  by  the  engraved  date  on  the  cup — viz., 
1632.  This  William  was  very  possibly  a  brother 
of  John  Howlett,  a  contemporary  silversmith  in 
Norwich,  who  was  working  there  up  to  1635  or 
perhaps  later. 

Upon  one  King's  Lynn  communion  cup  and  its 
paten,  belonging  to  a  Norfolk  parish  and  dated  1633, 
I  found  a  maker's  mark  identically  similar  to  the  well- 
known  mark  of  Timothy  Scottowe  (or  Skottowe), 
silversmith  of  Norwich  and  working  there  at  that 
period — viz.,  TS  in  monogram.  1  do  not  know  of 
any  King's  Lynn  silversmith  whose  name  these 
initials  will  fit,  but  Kinjg's  Lynn  is  not  a  very  far 
cry  from  Norwich,  and  it  is  quite  within  the  bounds 
of  probability  that  Scottowe  may  have  had  a  trade 
branch  or  partnership  interests  at  King's  Lynn. 

H.  D,  Ellis. 


cA.  ART  BOOKS  OF 

SCULPTURE    AND  METALWORK. 

Die  Plastik  Sienas  im  Quattrocento.  Von 
Paul  Schubring.  143  illustrations.  Pp.  256. 
Berlin  :  Grote.  1907.  6  marks  paper  ;  10  marks 
bound. 
In  order  to  be  properly  appreciated,  this  book 
should  be  read  at  Siena.  Sienese  art  is  essentially 
local.  The  only  sculptor  of  absolutely  first  rank 
that  the  city  produced,  Querela,  was  raised  by  his 
genius  far  above  the  limitations  of  his  fellow- 
sculptors,  who,  remaining  true  to  their  traditions, 
were  never  able  to  profit  by  his  example.  They 
assimilated  little  but  his  mannerisms,  which  they 
speedily  developed  into  caricature.  Querela,  for 
instance,  in  spite  of  his  tendency  to  worry  his 
drapery,  never  forgot  that  it  should  reveal  the 
figure  beneath.  His  successors  at  Siena,  like  the 
Germans  of  the  sixteenth  century,  amused  them- 
selves with  the  folds  of  their  drapery,  oblivious  of 

106 


THE  MONTH  r*^ 

the  human  form  it  concealed,  and  usually  also 
careless  of  its  texture.  Federighi's  saints  at  the 
Loggia  di  S.  Paolo  are  good  instances  in  point ; 
these  creatures  have  no  bodies  at  all,  but  are  mere 
masses  of  drapery.  Yet,  in  Siena,  undisturbed  by 
thoughts  of  Greek  or  Florentine  sculpture,  one 
feels  the  fascination  of  the  intensely  characteristic 
local  spirit,  and  is  grateful  to  a  school  which  was 
reluctant  to  throw  off  the  gothic  tradition,  and 
which,  though  it  seldom,  if  ever,  rose  to  the  grand 
style,  shows,  like  the  local  school  of  painting, 
peculiar  elements  of  religious  feeling  and  delicate 
sentiment.  Occasionally,  too,  as  in  Federighi's 
Moses,  it  could  produce  a  masterpiece  of  dramatic 
expression . 

Dr.  Schubring's  initial  chaper  on  Querela  is 
made  very  brief  because  of  the  existence  of  a 
satisfactory  monograph  by  Cornelius.  It  can 
hardly  be  denied  that  if  more  space  had  been  given 
to  the  great  master  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 


book  would  have  been  shifted,  and  his  successors 
revealed  in  their  true  proportions.  Short  as  the 
chapter  is,  it  contains  some  excellent  criticism. 
In  the  succeeding  chapters  the  author  deals  with 
Giovanni  Turini,  Federighi,  Vecchietta,  Neroccio, 
Giovanni  di  Stefano,  the  '  Piccolomini  Master,' 
Francesco  di  Giorgio,  Giacomo  Cozzarelli,  Marrina, 
and  of  course  incidentally  with  minor  artists.  A 
great  mass  of  material  is  brought  together,  and  it 
may  therefore  seem  ungrateful  to  complain  of  the 
way  in  which  it  has  been  assigned  ;  but  the  book 
would  have  been  none  the  less  valuable  for  a  little 
more  restraint  of  the  tendency  to  mark  down 
everything  with  a  definite  attribution .  The  group 
of  the  Annunciation  in  the  Santuccio  di  S.  Galgano 
is  given  to  Giov.  Turini,  with  whose  harshness  of 
form  and  expression  its  prettiness  is  in  strong 
contrast.  Of  the  remarkable  wooden  figure  of  a 
seated  woman,  recently  placed  in  the  Bargello  at 
Florence,  the  author  says  that  the  treatment  of 
form  points  to  about  1430,  but  that  he  knows  of  no 
Sienese  sculpture  related  to  it.  Whatever  the 
'  Formensprache '  of  this  clever  figure  may  indicate, 
in  motive  it  seems  to  belong  rather  to  the  time  of 
Giacomo  Cozzarelli,  and  still  greater  reserve  in 
dealing  with  it  would  surely  not  have  been  out  of 
place.  The  artist  Giovanni  di  Stefano  receives 
what  most  readers  will  regard  as  excessive  praise. 
His  Tabernacle  in  S.  Domenico,  which  offends  in 
all  its  proportions  and  balancing  of  elements,  his 
smugly  complacent  S.  Ansano,  his  angels  by  the 
ciborium  of  the  Duomo,  with  their  drapery  teased 
almost  out  of  all  recognition,  are  magnified  beyond 
their  due  importance,  and  the  climax  is  reached 
with  the  attribution  to  him  of  thesevereand  noble 
bust  of  St.  Catherine  in  the  Palazzo  Palmieri-Nuti  ! 
It  is  quite  in  keeping  that  the  famous  Virgilian 
lines  inscribed  beside  Giovanni's  Cumaean  Sibyl  are 
attributed  to  Lactantius,  and  the  branch  (apparently 
of  laurel)  which  she  holds  is  called  a  palm. 
Evidently  the  passion  for  re-attribution  is  dom- 
inant even  here.  Francesco  di  Giorgio  is  the 
author's  favourite.  His  restlessness,  his  lack  of 
reserve  and  harmony,  his  tendency  to  sensation- 
alism, are  ignored.  To  him  is  given  the  beautiful 
relief  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  now  at 
Berlin  (No.  154),  which,  in  the  massive  dignity  of 
its  forms,  is  wholly  alien  to  Francesco's  art.  He  is 
also  credited  with  the  fine  Pieta  in  the  Osser\-anza, 
apparently  because  the  author,  by  a  somewhat  naive 
petitio  principii,  considers  it  to  be  far  superior  to 
anything  created  by  Cozzarelli,  to  whom  it  is 
traditionally  assigned.  Of  course,  all  the  author's 
attributions  are  not  so  arbitrary.  One  can,  for 
instance,  heartily  accept  his  restoration  to  the 
Sienese  school  of  the  Berlin  Annunciation  assigned 
by  Dr.  Bode  to  the  school  of  Ghibcrti.  Attractive, 
too,  is  the  attribution  to  Federighi  of  the  Elci 
Bacchns,  which  in  its  ill-rendered  classicizing 
forms  (note  the  exaggerated  iliac  line  !)  recalls  the 


Sculpture  and  Metalwork 

slaves  on  the  holy-water  basin  in  the  Duomo. 
The  most  important  and  convincing  of  the  attribu- 
tions in  the  book  restores  to  Francesco  di  Giorgio 
from  Leonardo  da  Vinci  (to  whom  Dr.  Bode  had 
given  them)  a  group  of  reliefs,  including  a  pax  with 
the  Deposition  at  Venice,  the  Discoidia  at  S.  Ken- 
sington, and  the  Sconrging  of  Christ  at  Perugia.  It 
is  clear  from  what  has  been  said  that  Dr.  Schubring's 
book,  though  it  contains  much  that  is  disputable, 
and  represents  in  some  ways  not  the  most  favour- 
able aspects  of  recent  German  criticism,  is  of  very 
considerable  importance  as  bringing  together  a 
great  amount  of  valuable  material,  as  well  as  some 
less  valuable,  though  highly  suggestive,  speculation. 
It  also  possesses  the  merits  of  being  well  printed, 
well  illustrated,  and  eminently  readable.    G.  F.  H. 

DONATELLO.  Des  Meisters  Werke  in  277  Abbil- 
dungen.  Herausgegeben  von  Paul  Schubring. 
Deutsche  Verlags  Anstalt.  Stuttgart  and 
Leipzig.  M.  8. 
The  latest  volume  of  the  excellent  '  Klassiker  der 
Kunst'  series  is  devoted  to  a  master  who  is  gradu- 
ally taking  rank  among  the  very  greatest.  Born  in 
an  age  when  Italian  art  was  still  in  its  infancy, 
he  carries  it  at  once  to  maturity,  and  then,  as 
Dr.  Schubring  justly  points  out,  passes  on  to  the 
verge  of  the  rococo.  Michelangelo  is  his  direct 
descendant,  through  Bertoldo,  and  was  the  imme- 
diate influence  which  led  Italian  sculpture  to 
over-ripeness ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
even  Michelangelo,  with  all  the  advantage  of 
nearly  a  century  of  intense  intellectual  activity  to 
help  him,  carried  the  art  of  sculpture  quite  to  the 
point  which  Donalello  reaches  in  such  statues  as 
the  Madonna  at  Padua.  Donatello's  width  of 
range  is  the  more  wonderful  when  we  remembei 
that  in  the  art  of  sculpture  development  as  a  rule 
comes  slowly  ;  each  artist  adds  but  his  little  quota 
to  the  experience  of  his  predecessors,  and  progress 
from  the  archaic  to  the  over-ripe  is  a  matter  of 
two  or  more  centuries.  Donatello  is  the  single 
sculptor  who  has  succeeded  in  passing  from 
extreme  simplicity  to  extreme  complexity  within 
the  short  span  of  human  life. 

For  the  study  of  this  wonderful  and  powerful 
master  the  series  of  carefully  annotated  plates  in 
Dr.  Schubring's  book  will  prove  most  useful. 
Only  now  and  then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Annun- 
ciation in  Santa  Croce,  do  the  engravings  seem 
to  be  unsatisfactory  or  retouched  ;  the  majority 
are  excellent.  The  selection,  too,  is  good,  but  the 
arrangement  is  somewhat  puzzling.  A  section  is 
devoted  to  doubtful  and  school  works  ;  yet  among 
the  genuine  pieces  we  find  example  after  example 
(notably  in  the  case  of  the  detached  reliefs)  which 
cannot  by  any  possibility  be  from  the  master's 
hand.  Their  inclusion  among  the  authentic  things 
can  only  be  a  source  of  confusion  to  the  learner, 
and  is  the  more  surprising  since  in  a  number  of 

107 


Sculpture  and  Metalwork 

these  cases  Dr.  Schubring  admits  in  his  notes  that 
they  can  hardly  be  from  Donatello's  hand.  It  is 
never  pleasant  to  have  to  throw  doubt  on  a  work 
of  art,  but  in  a  book  designed  on  scientific  lines 
there  should  be  no  hesitation.  So  long,  however, 
as  Dr.  Schubring's  notes  are  studied  in  connexion 
with  the  pictures  the  reader  need  not  often  go  far 
astray. 

Franz  Laurana.  By  Wilhelm  Rolfs.  Vol.  I  : 
pp.  xvi.  and  455.  Vol.  II:  82  Bilder-Tafeln. 
Berlin:  R.  Bong.  1907.  Paper,  M.  36; 
bound,  M.  40. 
Of  Francesco  Laurana  as  a  man  nothing  is  known  ; 
it  is  therefore  the  greater  merit  in  the  author  of 
this  monograph  to  have  disentangled  from  the 
records  and  monuments,  without  undue  exercise 
of  his  imagination,  a  distinctly  engaging  artistic 
individuality.  No  one  is  more  conscious  than  the 
author  that  his  hero  is  not  a  great  artist.  Laurana 
always  anxiously  shuns  any  excessive  manifesta- 
tion of  force  ;  he  is  reserved,  cautious,  discreet  if 
ever  any  one  was  discreet,  without  creative  power. 
Even  his  sculpture  in  the  round  shows  an  almost 
morbid  anxiety  not  to  pierce  below  the  surface, 
and  even  in  such  work  he  sees  man  with  the  eye 
of  a  carver  in  low  relief.  His  forms  are  observed 
from  the  outside  ;  he  does  not,  like  the  great 
Florentines,  know  nature  from  withm.  He  reduces 
all  his  forms  to  the  simplest  planes  and  lines,  re- 
produces them  straightforwardly  and  truly,  works 
them  out  with  much  pains  and  diligence.  When 
he  is  one,  even  the  head,  of  a  large  company  of 
artists  engaged  on  a  great  monument,  he  seems  to 
lose  all  his  power  ;  but  in  smaller  tasks,  when  he 
is  working  by  himself,  the  fineness  of  his  taste 
finds  quiet  and  unobtrusive  expression.  He  may 
know  nature  only  on  the  surface,  yet  he  is  familiar 
with  the  loveliness  of  woman  in  every  detail.  Such, 
as  expressed  in  various  places,  is  the  author's  ver- 
dict on  Laurana,  and  it  is  eminently  just.  The 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  book,  and  of  Laurana's 
own  work,  lies  in  the  connexion  between  the 
Sicilian  Madonnas  and  the  busts  of  the  type  of 
Beatrice  of  Aragon  (of  which  the  '  unknown  lady ' 
of  the  Louvre  is  an  example  familiar  to  everyone). 
If  anything  can  be  proved  by  '  Stil-Kritik,'  it  is 
certain  that  these  two  groups  belong  to  the  same 
originator,  although  it  is  quite  improbable  that  all 
the  Madonnas  described  by  tlie  author,  or  all  the 
Beatrice-busts,  are  from  Laurana's  own  hand. 
The  medals  signed  by  him  are  also  part  of  his 
undoubted  work.  In  all  these  he  is  working 
alone,  or  under  conditions  which  make  his  influ- 
ence paramount.  But  in  monuments  like  the 
Arch  at  Naples  or  the  Avignon  Altar,  when  Laurana 
is  in  command  of  a  number  of  workmen,  we  almost 
entirely  lose  sight  of  his  individuality  ;  he  was  quite 
unable  to  impress  his  style  on  any  of  the  minor 
artists    in    his  employ.     It   is  difficult   to  find  a 

108 


figure  here  and  there  betraying  his  hand.  Even 
his  architectural  backgrounds  are  of  the  sort  that  a 
clever  pupil  could  execute  to  perfection.  In  all  this 
the  contradiction  is  only  on  the  surface.  A  little 
consideration  shows  that  the  very  charm  of  the 
Sicilian  Madonnas  and  the  Beatrice-busts  could 
only  belong  to  a  nature  incapable  of  harmonizing 
the  conflicting  tendencies  of  various  schools,  such 
as  were  represented  at  Naples,  or  controlling  the 
vulgarity  of  the  Franco-Flemish  artists  whom  he 
had  to  employ  at  Avignon.  There  is,  however, 
another  curious  paradox,  less  easily  explained. 
The  author  rightly  insists  that  Laurana  envisages 
forms  as  a  relief-sculptor,  not  as  a  sculptor  in  the 
round.  Why,  then,  are  his  best  and  most  charac- 
teristic works  sculptures  in  the  round,  like  the 
Sicilian  Madormas  and  the  Beatrice-busts  ?  What- 
ever may  be  the  answer  to  this  problem,  of  the 
busts  in  question  only  one  (in  the  Dreyfus  collec- 
tion) is  identified  by  its  inscription.  The  contour 
of  the  face  of  Beatrice  is  here  comparatively  rect- 
angular ;  the  build  of  some  of  the  other  heads  (as 
that  in  the  Louvre,  and  still  more  that  at  Berlin) 
is  different,  the  contour  being  a  beautiful  oval. 
The  distressing  black  background  of  the  illustra- 
tions in  the  book  makes  this  undoubted  fact 
difficult  to  realize.  Rather  than  accept  all  the 
busts  as  portraits  of  Beatrice,  we  should  regard 
several  of  them  as  slight  modifications  of  a  distinct 
type  founded  by  Laurana.  It  was  founded  on  a 
Tuscan  basis,  just  as  his  medallic  style,  like  that  of 
Pietro  da  Milano,  was  inspired  by  the  art  of 
Pisanello.  The  work  of  both  Francesco  and 
Pietro  shows  that  they  did  not  understand  casting  ; 
had  they  done  so,  more  good  specimens  would 
surely  have  come  down  to  us.  (The  illustration  of 
the  medal  in  the  Bargello  throws  doubt  on  the 
author's  statement  that  it  is  a  fine  cast.)  In  all 
probability  both  these  artists  handed  their  models 
over  to  some  one  else  to  cast,  and  the  similarity  of 
fabric  suggests  that  the  same  caster  worked  for 
them  both.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  author  has 
reduced  the  medals  in  his  plates  to  a  uniform  size  ; 
this  is  more  fatal  to  their  effect  than  the  method, 
which  he  condemns,  of  reproducing  from  plaster- 
casts.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  (as  any 
one  familiar  with  the  art  would  have  guessed  from 
its  appearance  in  the  photograph)  the  medal  of 
Frederick  of  Vaudemont  is  of  lead  ;  that  the  medal 
of  Margaret  of  Anjou  has  long  since  passed  from 
the  Pichon  to  the  Salting  collection  ;  and  that 
Alberti's  design  for  S.  Francesco  occurs  on  Pasti's 
medal  of  Sigismondo  Malatesta,  not  of  Albert! 
himself.  Pietro  da  Milano,  whose  claim  to  more 
than  a  minor  share  in  the  Arch  of  Naples  is  re- 
futed, is  throughout  the  book  called  '  Peter  Martin 
von  Mailand.'  He  was  really  '  Peter  son  of 
Martin.'  This  misleading  use  of  names  is  partly 
due  to  the  author's  desire — amounting  to  an 
eccentricity — to  Germanize  Italian  words.    Thus 


he  writes  '  Pickolomini,'  'Schacka'  (for  Sciacca) 
and  '  Jotto.'  Since  the  German  reader  (whose 
intelligence  he  seems  to  rate  very  low)  would 
naturally  pronounce  the  last  word  '  Yotto,'  it  is 
hard  to  see  what  purpose  is  served  by  the  per- 
version. But  we  do  not  wish  to  end  our  account 
of  this  book,  for  which  we  are  deeply  grateful  to 
the  author,  on  a  note  of  discontent.  The  immense 
labour  and  time  expended  on  the  subject,  the 
judicious  conduct  of  the  argument,  make  the 
monograph  one  of  the  most  notable  of  recent 
contributions  to  the  history  of  Italian  sculpture. 
It  may  not  deal  with  any  of  the  greatest  monuments 
of  that  art,  but  it  is  a  mine  of  information  on 
its  development  in  Genoa,  Sicily,  Naples  and 
Southern  France.  A  parallel  to  the  author's 
elaborate  survey  of  the  Arch  at  Naples  can  hardly 
be  found  outside  the  literature  of  classical  archae- 
ology. G.  F.  H. 

GESCHICHTE       DER       GOLDSCHMIEDEKUNST     AUF 
TECHNISCHER       GRUNDLAGE  ;       AbTEILUNG  : 

Niello.     By  Hofrath  Dr.  Marc  Rosenberg. 

Darmstadt.     1907. 
This   publication   is   really  a   chapter   issued   in 
advance  from  a  book  on  the  technical  history  of 
the  goldsmith's  craft  by  the  author  of  that  useful 
work  '  Der  Goldschmiede  Merkzeichen.' 

Dr.  Rosenberg  follows  the  history  of  niello  from 
its  earliest  appearance  to  modern  times,  and  repro- 
duces in  some  forty  illustrations  typical  examples 
of  nielloed  works  of  art.  He  accepts  as  niello  on 
the  authority  of  Von  Bissing  the  inlay  in  the  gold 
hawk's  head  in  the  Cairo  jMuseum,  found  in  the 
tomb  of  Queen  Ah-hetep,  the  composition  being 
evidently  metallic,  though  with  an  unusually  high 
proportion  of  copper.  We  thus  obtain  a  far 
earlier  date  for  the  introduction  of  niello  than  was 
formerly  admitted  ;  but  some  obscurity  still  pre- 
vails with  regard  to  its  use  between  the  time  of 
the  eighteenth  Egyptian  dynasty  and  the  Graeco- 
Roman  period.  As  we  approach  the  Christian 
era  we  are  on  firmer  ground.  With  the  Romans, 
as  is  well  known,  niello  was  very  popular,  especially 
for  the  decoration  of  silver  plate.  From  Roman 
examples  the  author  passes  to  those  of  Byzantine 
origin,  and  from  these  to  the  niello  of  the  middle 
ages  in  the  west,  so  well  represented  by  the  work 
of  the  twelfth  century.  Dr.  Rosenberg  discredits 
the  theory  first  propounded  by  Ilg  that  the  Rog- 
kerus  of  Helmershausen  who  made  the  Paderborn 
portable  altar  was  the  same  person  as  the  Theo- 
philus  of  the  '  Schedula  diversarum  artium  ' ;  and 
it  certainly  appears  that  the  evidence  is  incon- 
clusive. The  Paderborn  altar,  the  St.  Trudpert 
cross  and  the  Xanten  casket  are  all  well  repro- 
duced, the  illustrations  of  the  altar  usefully  supple- 
menting those  given  by  Von  Falke  in  his  monu- 
mental work  '  Deutsche  Schmelzarbeiten  des 
Mittelalters.'     An  interesting  point  is  raised  with 


Sculpture  and  Metalwork 

regard  to  the  connexion  of  Italy  with  niello  in  the 
middle  ages  by  a  criticism  of  a  familiar  passage  in 
Theophilus.  Tiiscia  is  there  mentioned  as  a  place 
in  which  niello-work  was  a  favourite  mode  of 
ornament.  But  while  there  is  no  Tuscan  niello 
which  can  be  assigned  to  the  eleventh  or  twelfth 
century,  there  does  exist  Russian  work  for  which 
this  antiquity  is  claimed.  Dr.  Rosenberg  therefore 
suggests  the  emendation  Riiscia  for  Tuscia,  and 
submits  it  in  its  turn  to  criticism. 

Passing  rapidly  over  the  Italian  examples  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  the  author  discusses  at  some 
length  the  relation  between  the  nielli  of  the  Re- 
naissance and  the  metal  plates  specially  engraved 
for  the  multiplication  of  prints.  He  adopts  the 
conclusion  that  there  is  no  real  connexion  at  all, 
and  that  existing  impressions  from  nielli  were 
probably  made  in  the  seventeenth  century — not 
directly  from  the  metal,  but  from  sulphur  moulds 
which  had  been  preserved.  Illustrations  are  given 
of  the  pax  in  the  Bargello  and  the  impression  in 
the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  at  Paris,  as  well  as  of 
the  paxes  at  Bologna,  and  of  the  German  standing- 
cup  at  Nuremberg.  The  chapter  concludes  with 
a  mention  of  the  modern  Tula  work  of  Russia. 

Although  here  and  there  we  could  have  wished 
for  a  rather  fuller  treatment — the  niello  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  is,  for  instance,  ignored — this 
chapter  in  the  history  of  a  great  industrial  art 
should  be  widely  welcomed,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  book  of  which  it  is  destined  to  form  an 
integral  Dart  will  before  long  find  a  publisher. 
^      '  D. 

The  Church  Pl.^te  of  the  City  of  Chester. 

By  T.  S.  Ball.    1907.    London  :  Sherratt  and 

Hughes.  I  OS.  6d.  net. 
This  book  is  mainly  a  reprint  of  some  articles 
which  appeared  in  a  local  newspaper  a  few  years 
ago.  The  earliest  plate  in  the  Chester  churches  is 
Elizabethan— three  cups,  a  paten  and  a  paten 
cover.  They  have  only  one  mark,  'a  sheep's 
head,'  which  the  writer  ascribes  to  a  Chester  silver- 
smith, William  Mutton.  Unhappily,  no  illustration 
of  this  mark  is  given.  These  are  followed  in  date 
by  a  plain  cup  on  baluster  stem,  with  London 
mark  for  1633,  of  which  there  is  another  example 
of  1 641  at  one  other  Chester  church.  A  tall  cup, 
of  1635,  at  St.  Michael's,  presented  in  1680, 
probably  had  a  steeple-cover.  We  notice  Mr. 
Ball's  abandonment  of  his  somewhat  heatedly 
expressed  contention  in  the  newspaper  that  the 
'Sterling'  mark  on  the  paten  of  about  1683  at 
S.  John  the  Baptist's  was  a  Cork  mark.  He  has 
now  deemed  it  prudent  to  follow  Mr.  C.  J.  Jackson's 
advice  and  describe  the  mark  '  Chester,'  with  the 
name  of  the  maker,  Ralph  Walley,  though  without 
acknowledgment  of  the  source  of  information. 
Except  this  paten  and  the  plate  wrought  by  the 
well-known  Richardson  family,  who  flourished  at 

109 


Sculpture  and  Metalwork 

Chester  from  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth 
century  to  about  1812,  the  only  examples  of  local 
silversmiths'  work  in  these  churches  is  a  paten  of 
1683  by  Nathaniel  Bullen,  at  St.  Mary-without- 
the- Walls,  and  a  flagon  stand  of  1711  by  Thomas 
Robinson,  in  the  same  church.  The  writer  gives 
the  name  of  four  of  the  Richardsons,  but  omits 
the  fifth,  William.  A  double  error  occurs  on 
page  108,  where  a  cup  is  assigned  to  the  year  1785, 
with  a  note  adding  that  it  may  possibly  be  1762. 
In  the  first  place,  the  letter  '  m '  on  the  cup  would 
not  be  1785-6,  but  1787-8  ;  and  secondly,  if  it  were 
this  date,  as  the  writer  appears  to  contend,  it  would 
also  have  the  king's  head  mark.  The  cathedral 
vessels,  which  chiefly  date  from  the  Restoration, 
are  of  conventional  forms,  and  call  for  no  special 
notice.  We  do,  however,  consider  that  the 
omission  of  illustrations  of  the  cathedral  maces 
(1662),  the  altar  candlesticks  (1662),  and  an  old 
Augsburg  cup — the  latter  a  recent  gift — from  a 
small  book  such  as  this  is  unfortunate.  One  or 
two  other  rare  pieces — for  instance,  the  oval  dish 
(1638)  at  St.  Mary-without-the-Walls,  which  the 
writer  describes  as 'most  unusual' — might  well 
have  been  illustrated.  Among  several  misprints 
is  one  on  page  115,  where  the  Sheffield  date-letter 
should  be  1839,  not  1739. 

ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Architecture  of  Greece  and  Rome.  By 
William  J.  Anderson  and  R.  Phene  Spiers. 
Second  edition.  London  :  Batsford.  1907. 
The  fact  that  this  book  has  reached  a  second 
edition  is  evidence  not  only  of  its  merits  but  of 
the  existence  of  a  demand  which  it  has  succeeded 
in  satisfying.  We  may  assume  that  it  is  intended 
for  the  use  and  information  of  architects.  When 
we  consider  how  large  a  place  the  study  of  ancient 
buildings  took  in  the  education  of  architects,  and 
especially  the  greatest  of  them,  from  the  rise  of  the 
Renaissance  to  the  days  of  the  Gothic  revival, 
the  importance  of  a  clear  exposition  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  Greek  and  Roman  construction  and 
design,  joined  to  scientific  descriptions  of  existing 
remains,  becomes  obvious.  This  book  is  based  on 
lectures  given  by  the  late  Mr.  Anderson — a  form 
which  scarcely  lends  itself  to  any  profundity  of 
treatment — and  its  strength  lies  in  its  descriptive 
side.  Plans  and  illustrations  are  numerous  and 
generally  excellent,  and  constant  reference  is  made 
to  the  fragments,  especially  of  Greek  buildings,  in 
which  the  British  Museum  is  so  rich.  It  would  be 
possible  to  point  to  a  number  of  statements  to  which 
exception  might  be  taken  on  archaeological  grounds; 
but  we  think  that  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  criticize 
too  closely  from  that  point  of  view  a  book  with  aims 
like  those  of  the  one  before  us.  One  of  the  features 
of  the  new  edition  is  an  account  of  the  so-called 
Aegean  art  which  has  been  revealed  by  modern 
research,  and  more  particularly  of  the  results  of  Dr. 

I  ID 


Arthur  Evans's  excavations  in  Crete.  The  account 
as  a  whole  is  a  good  one,  taking  into  consideration 
the  purpose  of  the  volume  ;  and  it  appears  to  be 
unnecessary  to  draw  attention  to  objections  which 
might  be  made  to  parts  of  it,  not  only  because  these 
archaic  remains  have  merely  a  subsidiary  import- 
ance in  the  history  of  developed  Greek  architecture, 
but  also  because  the  stage  of  practical  unanimity 
among  professed  archaeologists  upon  these  subjects 
has  been  by  no  means  yet  reached.  The  part  of  the 
work  relating  to  Greece  takes  the  form  of  a  sketch 
of  the  evolution  of  the  Hellenic  style,  which 
practically  means  the  history  and  description  of  the 
great  temples.  The  remaining  types  of  buildings  : 
theatres,  market  places,  palaces  and  houses, 
etc.,  are  dealt  with  in  a  supplementary  chapter. 
The  Roman  part,  which  appears  to  be  the  most 
satisfactory,  as  it  is  certainly  the  most  important  for 
a  modern  architect,  mainly  follows  the  lines  of  a 
description  of  the  buildings  classified  under  head- 
ings, such  as  Forums,  Basilicas,  Amphitheatres, 
Baths,  Triumphal  Arches,  etc.  Considering  the 
abundance  of  the  material  and  the  limited  space 
allowed  in  a  volume  of  this  kind,  very  little  of 
importance  has  been  omitted.  The  accounts  too  are 
generally  written  with  sufficient  information  as  to 
the  more  recent  discoveries  and  points  of  view.  It 
is  therefore  difficult  to  see  why  an  antiquated  and 
in  any  case  largely  conjectural  plan  of  the  Roman 
Forum  should  have  been  given,  when  the  facts  as 
to  the  buildings  which  surrounded  it  have  been 
almost  exhaustively  settled  by  the  latest  excavations. 
The  outlines,  for  instance,  of  the  important  Basilica 
Aemilia  have  been  visible  for  the  last  few  years,  and 
are  recorded  in  published  plans,  though  the  very 
cursory  mention  of  it  in  the  text  suggests  that  the 
excavation  is  only  taking  place  at  the  present  time. 
Again,  Deglane's  elaborate  plan  of  the  Palace  of  the 
Caesars,  though  based  to  a  considerable  extent  upon 
facts,  will  alniost  certainly  have  to  be  modified  in 
its  conjectural  parts  now  that  the  Villa  Mills  has 
been  acquired  by  the  Italian  Government,  and  that 
there  is  a  prospect  of  the  whole  site  being  excavated 
in  the  course  of  the  next  few  years.  However, 
we  would  not  lay  too  much  stress  on  these 
and  other  minor  blemishes  in  a  generally  sound 
and  useful  work.  We  may  add  that  the  volume 
closes  with  maps  showing  the  position  of  the  chief 
architectural  sites  of  Greece  and  Italy  (an  excellent 
idea  which  might  well  have  been  made  more  exten- 
sive), a  glossary  of  architectural  terms,  and  a  list  of 
the  most  important  books  relating  to  the  subject. 

G.  McN.  R. 

Windsor.        Painted     by    George    M.    Henton. 

Described  by  Sir  Richard  R.  Holmes,  K.C.V.O. 

London  :  Black,     ys.  6d.  net. 
Sir    Richard     Holmes's    long     and    intimate 
acquaintance  with  Windsor  Castle  gives  a  value  to 
his  sketch  of  its  history  that  is  considerably  in 


Architecture 


excess  of  its  length.  Indeed,  it  contains  so  much 
interesting  evidence  of  minute  observation  of  facts 
connected  with  the  building  as  to  deserve  a 
different  and  a  more  scientific  apparatus  of 
illustration  than  that  provided  by  l\Ir.  Henton's 
drawings.  Reproductions  of  old  plans  and  old 
prints  would  have  been  a  great  help  to  those  who 
do  not  know  the  building  well ;  and  if  something 
of  the  kind  could  be  added  to  the  ne.\t  edition  the 
practical  usefulness  of  the  volume  would  be  greatly 
increased.  Sir  Richard  Holmes  confines  his  studies 
to  the  castle  itself.  Mr.  Henton  in  his  pictures 
includes  the  town  and  neighbourhood.  His 
drawings  are  of  very  unequal  merit.  Wherever  he 
has  to  deal  with  a  distance  or  a  wide  expanse  of 
country  he  gets  into  difficulties  with  tone  and 
composition  ;  his  street  scenes,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  almost  always  successful. 

Storia  dell'  Arte.  Vol.  11°.  Parte  I.  Arte 
Cristiana,  neo-orientale  ed  Europea  d'oltri  Alpi. 
Dott.  Giulio  Carotti.  Milano  :  Hoepli.  L.6.50. 
This  instalment  of  the  latest  of  Messrs.  Hoepli's 
manuals  covers  a  very  wide  field — so  wide,  indeed, 
that  Professor  Carotti,  with  360  illustrations  and 
about  the  same  number  of  pages  of  letterpress  at 
his  disposal,  could  not  be  expected  to  give  more 
than  a  very  general  sketch  of  the  subjects  discussed. 
The  first  section  deals  with  the  period  of  the  Cata- 
combs, the  next  with  the  art  and  architecture  which 
had  their  origin  in  Byzantium.  We  then  pass  to 
Arab  art  in  Asia,  Africa  and  Spain,  and  from 
thence  to  India.  The  second  section  begins  with 
Romanesque  work,  and  traces  the  rise  of  the 
gothic  spirit  on  the  Continent  and  in  England. 
Each  section  is  supplemented  by  a  bibliography, 
and  there  is  an  elaborate  index.  Altogether  Pro- 
fessor Carotti  has  managed  his  compilation  well. 
Here  and  there  misprints  in  names  will  be  noticed, 
and  there  are  naturally  many  points  on  which  the 
author's  conclusions  could  be  challenged  ;  but  on 
the  whole  the  little  manual  can  be  recommended 
to  those  who  need  a  summary  of  the  chief 
examples  of  mediaeval  art,  though  they  should 
be  made  aware  that  it  deals  only  with  architecture, 
painting  and  sculpture.  Since  the  above  note  was 
written  we  see  that  the  book  is  shortly  to  be  pre- 
sented in  an  English  dress,  in  which  it  should 
attract  a  considerable  audience. 

The  Practical  Exemplar  of  Architecture. 
Edited  by  Merv7n  E.  Macartney.  London  : 
Technical  Journals  (1902),  Ltd.  12s.  6d.  net. 
This  portfolio  of  plates,  in  a  large  measure 
reprinted  from  'The  Architectural  Review,' 
embodies  an  excellent  idea — namely,  to  provide  art 
students,  at  a  small  cost,  with  measured  drawings 
and  photographs  of  good  examples  of  architectural 
work  and  details.  The  usefulness  of  the  scheme 
depends  entirely  upon  the  examples  chosen,  and 
in  the  case  of  this,  the  first  portfolio,  the  choice  is 


both  varied  and  excellent.  The  hundred  and 
twenty  plates  deal  almost  exclusively  with 
FJenaissance  work,  and  include  not  only  cupolas, 
chimneys,  doors  and  windows  but  an  excellent 
series  of  gates  and  wall  piers  and  some  fine  speci- 
mens of  interior  woodwork,  among  which  is 
included  the  famous  panelling  in  Lincoln  College 
Chapel.  The  only  suggestion  we  can  make  is  that 
the  name  of  the  architect,  where  it  is  known,  should 
be  added  to  the  lettering  at  the  foot  of  each  plate. 
Notes  such  as  that  given  on  the  gate  piers  at 
Hampstead  Marshall  would  perhaps  be  better  still 
in  the  case  of  buildings  that  are  little  known. 

MISCELL.^NEOUS 

Petr.\rch  and  the  Ancient  World.  By 
Pierre  de  Xolhac.  Boston:  D.  B.Updike.  §6. 
Serious  students  of  Petrarch  will  naturally  turn 
to  M.  de  Nolhac's  '  Petrarque  et  I'Humanisme,' 
but  there  is  a  wider  public  to  whom  these  three 
charming  essays  should  be  acceptable.  They 
deal  with  Petrarch  as  an  initiator  of  the  Renaissance, 
with  his  library,  and  with  his  attitude  towards  his 
best-beloved  authors,  Virgil  and  Cicero.  They  are 
couched  in  almost  impeccable  English,  the  name 
of  the  author  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  their 
quality,  and  they  are  presented  in  a  dress  worthy 
of  their  subject,  for  the  type,  the  paper  and  the 
printing  in  red  and  black  could  not  fail  to  delight 
as  fastidious  a  lover  of  books  as  Petrarch  himself. 

The  Rhine  :  Its  Valley  and  its  History. 
By  H.  J.  Mackinder,  with  illustrations  in 
colour  by  Mrs.  James  Jardine.  London  : 
Chatto  and  Windus.  1908.  20s.  net. 
Mr.  Mackinder's  learned  yet  vivacious  and 
eminently  readable  text  is  far  more  than  padding 
to  eke  out  a  set  of  pretty  pictures,  as  the  '  book ' 
portion  of  some  '  colour  books '  has  been  before 
now.  He  writes  with  thorough  knowledge  and 
keen  interest  of  the  physical  surroundings  of  the 
Rhine  and  its  tributaries,  the  causes  that  determined 
the  course  of  the  mighty  river,  and  its  influence 
upon  the  history  of  the  peoples  that  live  or  have 
lived  upon  its  banks  from  Switzerland  to  the  North 
Sea.  For  the  intelligent  arm-chair  traveller,  who 
will  think  and  use  maps,  the  admirable  maps  sup- 
plied in  the  volume  itself,  '  The  Rhine '  will  provide 
a  tour  unrivalled  in  Europe.  The  illustrations  are 
pretty,  but  somewhat  irrelevant  to  the  text ;  the 
reader  is  left,  for  instance,  helplessly  wondering 
why  there  should  be  a  statue  of  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
of  all  people,  at  Offenburg.  It  is  not  Mr.  Mackinder, 
but  Baedeker,  that  informs  us  that  the  statue 
commemorates  '  the  introducer  of  the  potato  into 
Europe,  1586.'  Is  Offenburg  specially  addicted 
to  the  grateful  consumption  of  Kartoffehalat  ? 
Mrs.  Jardine  has  a  ladylike  tenderness  for  the  Rhine 
of  romantic  legend,  and  paints  the  Lorelei  with  a 
rowing-boat  drifting  past  oblivious  of  steamer  or 


I  1 1 


Miscellaneous   Books 


rail,  while  Mr.  Mackinder  ruthlessly  calls  it  part 
of  the  Rhenish  Schist.  Her  picture  of  Bregenz  is 
ludicrously  misleading,  when  one  thinks  of  the 
actual  lake  front  of  that  sadly  disfigured  town, 
and  she  shrinks  too  frequently  from  facing  the 
realities  of  our  prosaic  and  commercial  century. 

C.  D. 

Byways    of    Collecting.    By    Ethel    Deane. 

Cassell  and  Co.  7s.  6d.  net. 
In  a  small  volume  of  some  two  hundred  pages 
printed  in  large  type,  the  author  proceeds  to  tell 
us  all  about  porcelain,  from  the  earliest  oriental  to 
modern  Staffordshire  crockery.  Engravings  from 
Diirer  and  the  Little  Masters  to  what  she  is  pleased 
to  call  '  the  Art  of  Dots,'  furniture  from  early  oak 
to  Sheraton,  old  silver,  Sheffield  plate  and  cut- 
glass  also  find  a  place.  The  author  accepts  the 
Chinese  tradition  that  porcelain  was  made  in 
prehistoric  days,  and  boldly  states  '  that  it  is  known 
that  the  Chinese  made  it  centuries  before  Christ,' 
whereas  that  well-known  authority  Dr.  Bushell,  in 
his  able  work  on  the  subject,  is  more  cautious,  and 
while  admitting  the  possibility  of  its  first  having 
been  produced  during  the  T'ang  dynasty,  which 
commenced  A.D.  618,  informs  us  that  no  examples 
seem  to  have  survived  of  earlier  date  than  the 
Sung  period,  A.D.  960-1279.  The  subjects  of 
engravings,  silver,  glass,  etc.,  are  treated  in  the 
same  manner,  so  that  the  serious  collector,  who 
in  common  with  the  invalid  of  to-day  usually 
prefers  to  consult  a  specialist  on  the  subject  of 
the  greatest  interest  to  himself,  will  hardly  consider 
'  Byways  of  Collecting'  a  necessary  addition  to  his 
library.  The  illustrations,  which  for  their  size  are 
good,  do  not  show  any  example  of  particular 
interest.  C.  L. 

Sir  William  Temple  upon  the  Gardens  of 
Epicurus,  with  other  seventeenth-century 
garden  essays.  Introduction  by  Albert  Forbes 
Sieveking,  F.S.A.  The  King's  Classics.  Chatto 
and  Windus.  is.  6d.  net. 
The  new  volume  of  the  '  King's  Classics '  contains, 
besides  Evelyn's  essay,  Abraham  Cowley's  poem, 
'  The  Garden ' ;  parts  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  'The 
Garden  of  Cyrus,'  and  his  '  Observations  upon 
Several  Plants  mentioned  in  Scripture,'  his  letter 
to  Evelyn  on  garlands,  and  his  '  Observations  on 
Grafting ' ;  Marvell's  poems,  '  The  Garden  '  and 
'  The  Mower  against  Gardens '  ;  and  Evelyn's 
garden  letters  and  garden  cuttings  from  his  diary. 
The  whole  makes  a  treasury,  not  only  of  garden 
lore,  redolent  of  '  fine  garden  smells,'  but  of  seven- 
teenth-century prose  ;  and  the  editor's  learned  and 
vivacious  introduction  and  the  appendices  and 
notes  are  full  of  quaint  information  on  gardening. 
On  the  literary  side  the  introduction  is,  perhaps, 
less  satisfactory.  Mr.  Sieveking  has  not  the 
seventeenth-century  spirit ;  he  is  a  little  inclined 


to  patronize  our  betters  in  the  art  of  prose,  and  he 
rather  misses  the  '  Sir  Thomas  Browne-ness '  (to 
use  Coleridge's  phrase)  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne. 
His  good  work,  however,  adds  immensely  to  the 
attractions  of  the  volume,  which  is  one  of  the 
pleasantest  and  most  scholarly  in  its  always 
pleasant  and  scholarly  series. 

The  Mask.  A  monthly  journal  of  the  art  of  the 
theatre.  Vol.  I,  No.  i.  March,  1908.  is.  net 
monthly.  London  agent  :  D.  J.  Rider,  36  St. 
Martin's  Court,  Charing  Cross  Road,  W.C. 
All  who  are  seriously  interested  in  the  art  of  the 
theatre  have  long  desired  to  see  a  journal  devoted 
to  the  subject.  We  may,  therefore,  give  'The 
Mask '  a  warm  welcome,  more  particularly  as  its 
first  number  shows  very  clearly  that  the  art  of  the 
theatre  with  which  it  intends  to  concern  itself  is 
not  the  art  of  the  theatre  as  usually  practised  in 
London.  It  contains  several  articles  of  interest, 
which  serve  to  bring  into  prominence  essential 
features  of  the  art  of  the  theatre  which  are  too 
often  overlooked.  Mr.  Edward  Hutton  describes 
the  posture-dancing  of  Spain — a  language  which 
London  is  always  loth  to  listen  to,  save  in  the  case 
of  one  or  two  sophisticated  and  cosmopolitan 
representatives.  Mr.  John  Balance  has  a  paper  on 
masks,  which  includes  a  wise  word  of  praise  for 
puppet-shows,  while  Mr.  Gordon  Craig  himself 
addresses  an  inspiriting  piece  of  counsel  to  young 
actors  and  stage-managers.  Yet  at  the  end  of  our 
perusal — in  spite  of  the  real  if  manicre  beauty  of 
type,  paper  and  cuts — we  are  left  rather  doubtful 
of  the  efficacy  of  '  The  Mask '  in  its  present  form. 
Is  it  not  a  little  archaistic  ?  Mr.  Balance  may 
claim  that  the  mask  is  of  the  future  as  much  as  of 
the  past ;  but  can  we  believe  him  ?  Mr.  Hutton 
deals  with  what  he  admits  to  be  a  dying  art,  and  a 
phase  of  it  which  has  been  left  far  behind  by 
the  posture-dancers  from  the  east,  who,  having 
absorbed,  perhaps,  something  of  the  art  of  the 
Roman  paiitoinirinis,  offer  one  or  two  specimens 
of  the  same  art  in  a  much  higher  and  more  artistic 
form  ;  and  Serlio's  book,  excerpts  from  which  are 
given,  some  in  English,  some  in  Italian,  is  surely 
as  unsuited  to  the  needs  of  the  moment  as  the 
archaisms  of  Mr.  William  Poel.  We  would  implore 
the  guiding  spirits  of '  The  Mask '  to  remember  that 
the  present  state  of  things  is  in  urgent  need  of 
reform,  and  that  reforms  are  not  carried  out  save 
by  methods  a  little  less  remote  and  a  little  more 
brutal  than  those  adopted  in  their  beautiful  but 
rather  precious  magazine.  The  art  of  the  theatre 
is  a  popular  one.  It  is  the  many,  not  the  few, 
who  must  be  convinced  before  the  art  of  the 
theatre  is  to  be  raised  from  its  present  condition  ; 
and  'The  Mask'  is  not  for  the  many.  It  is  true 
that  the  magazine  expressly  disclaims  any  intention 
of   reforming    the   modern    stage.     That   is   the 


I  12 


Miscellaneous  Books 


ground  of  our  complaint  ;  and  we  do  not  agree 
that  it  is  now  too  hte  for  reform. 

The  Winchester  Charts  of  Florentine  and 
Venetian  Painters  of  the  Renaissance. 
Compiled  by  M.  J.  Kendall.  London  : 
Mansell.     Each  2s.  6d.  net. 

These  two  charts  present  in  a  tabular  form  the 
artistic  descent  of  the  chief  painters  of  the 
Renaissance,  the  Florentine  chart  including  the 
schools  of  Umbria,  Siena  and  Milan,  while  the 
Venetian  one  includes  all  the  painters  of  North 
Italy.  The  charts  are  completed  with  chronological 
tables  and  notes  on  historical  points,  are  mounted 
on  linen  to  fold  like  maps,  and  are  put  up  in 
handsome  covers.  Only  on  one  or  two  points 
can  we  suggest  improvements.  Michelangelo's 
descent  from  Donatello  is  traced  far  more  directly, 
and  rightly,  through  Bertoldo  than  by  the  round- 
about route  of  Domenico  Veneziano,  Alesso 
Baldovinetti  and  Ghirlandajo  ;  the  influences  of 
the  Pollaiuoli  on  Botticelli  and  of  Castagno  on 
his  Florentine  successors  deserved  notice — and 
other  questions  will  suggest  themselves  to  the 
critical  mind.  But  on  the  whole  the  arrangement 
is  so  clear  and  so  sensible  that  the  charts  should 
be  most  useful  to  those  who  wish  to  get  a  general 
view  of  the  development  of  Renaissance  painting. 

A  Guide  to  the  Paintings  in  the  Churches 
AND  Minor  Museums  of  Florence.  By 
Maud  Cruttwell.    London:  Dent.   3s.6d.net. 

This  companion  volume  to  Miss  Cruttwell's 
guide  to  the  paintings  in  the  Florentine  galleries 
is  a  most  useful  addition  to  the  traveller's  library. 
So  far  as  we  have  checked  it,  it  is  up  to  date  in 
point  of  scholarship,  and  includes  a  good  many 
things  that  are  not  commonly  known  ;  the  author's 
notes  are  commendably  brief,  and  are  accompanied 
or  replaced  where  possible  by  extracts  from  Vasari 
referring  to  the  pictures.  The  book  is  arranged 
on  a  simple  alphabetical  plan  and  is  diversified  here 
and  there  by  little  engravings,  while  asterisks, 
single  or  double,  mark  the  works  to  which  Miss 
Cruttwell  specially  directs  attention.  Were  the 
double  asterisks  replaced  throughout  by  single  ones 
the  estimates  as  a  whole  would  be  more  just,  yet, 
as  sensible  people  decide  these  things  for  them- 
selves, the  point  is  unimportant  compared  with  the 
general  usefulness  of  the  book. 

Blatter  fur  Gemaldekunde.  Von  Dr.  Theodor 
v.  Frimmel.  Band  IIL  Wicn  :  Ceroid  and 
Co. 
The  third  volume  of  Dr.  Von  Friramel's  well- 
printed  publication  includes  the  ten  numbers 
issued  between  May  1906  and  the  summer  of 
1907.  As  usual,  the  contents  are  varied  and  inte- 
resting.    Special  attention  is  devoted  to  works  by 


the  Dutch  masters  of  the  seventeenth  century,  on 
whom  there  are  many  valuable  illustrated  notes, 
made  still  more  useful  by  the  provision  of  a  good 
index. 

Die  Holzmobel  der  Sammlung  Figdor.  Von 
Dr.  Hans  Stegmann.  Wien  :  Artaria  and  Co. 
This  handsomely  illustrated  account  of  the  furni- 
ture in  the  possession  of  the  well-known  Viennese 
collector  Dr.  Figdor  is  a  reprint  of  matter  that 
has  appeared  in  '  Kunst  und  Kunsthandwerk.'  It 
well  deserves  the  honour  of  separate  publication, 
both  from  the  intrinsic  importance,  variety  and 
beauty  of  the  collection  and  from  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  work  of  the  director  of  the  German 
National  Museum  at  Nuremberg.  The  collection 
is  mainly  domestic  in  character,  but  the  examples 
of  chests,  coffers,  presses,  fald-stools,  chairs,  tables 
and  frames  which  it  includes  represent  the  crafts 
of  Italy  and  Northern  Europe  during  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  with  some  approach  to 
completeness.  It  will  thus  appeal  specially  to 
collectors  who  are  interested  in  the  furniture  made 
before  the  style  of  Italy  was  superseded  by  that 
of  France. 

Art  and    Design    in    the    Decoration    of 

Bookbindings.  Bumpus.  1907. 
A  remarkable  scheme  is  embodied  in  this 
sumptuous  catalogue.  Messrs.  Bumpus  have 
conceived  the  idea  of  reproducing  in  facsimile  a 
series  of  the  most  notable  bindings  executed 
between  the  twelfth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and 
the  set  of  nearly  120  plates  with  which  this  cata- 
logue is  embellished  illustrates  the  result  of  their 
labours.  As  the  preface  not  unjustly  claims,  the 
collection  is  an  object-lesson  in  bookbinding,  for 
the  progress  of  design  and  decoration  from  the 
past  to  the  present  can  be  seen  at  a  glance,  almost 
every  school  of  bookbinding  being  represented. 
Beginning  with  a  Byzantine  cover  of  the  twelfth 
century  in  carved  ivory,  the  series,  after  including 
one  or  two  examples  of  oriental  work,  passes  to 
the  stamped  calf  bindings  of  Pynson  and  others 
of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  Then,  after  a  number 
of  fine  Elizabethan  examples,  we  come  to  the 
Stuart  epoch,  which,  taken  as  a  whole,  perhaps 
represents  the  climax  of  the  binder's  art  in  Great 
Britain.  It  would  be  invidious  to  pick  and  choose 
among  the  admirable  examples  of  the  work  of  this 
time,  but  a  word  of  special  praise  must  be  given  to 
the  unique  binding  by  Samuel  Mearne,  illustrated 
in  the  plate  facing  page  44.  After  some  tine  speci- 
mens of  the  work  of  Roger  Payne  and  of  the 
Scotch  bookbinders  of  the  eighteenth  century,  we 
come  to  F^rench,  Italian,  Spanish,  German  and 
Dutch  bindings,  all  of  them  excellent  and  repre- 
sentative, the  examples  of  Le  Gascon  being 
specially  notable.  It  would  be  difficult,  in  fact,  to 
compile  a  more  complete  and  instructive  series. 


K. 


I  I 


3 


Miscellaneous  Books 


The  Washbourne  Family.  By  James  Daveiiport, 
M.A.,  vicar  of  Wichenford.  With  fifteen 
illustrations.  Methuen  and  Co.  21s.  net. 
The  Washbournes,  a  Worcestershire  family  origin- 
ally of  knightly  rank,  held  the  lands  of  Washbourne 
for  some  five  centuries,  although  their  chief  seat 
during  the  greater  part  of  that  period  was  elsewhere. 
They  have  left  their  tombs  and  monuments  in 
Worcestershire  churches ;  they  married  with 
gentle  houses ;  their  younger  branches  spread 
abroad,  one  line  having  been  in  New  England  since 
Charles  the  First's  days.  Although  no  great  man 
came  of  them  they  found  sheriffs  for  their  county 
— sheriff,  we  may  tell  our  author,  is  the  English  for 
the  '  vicecomes '  of  his  records — a  cavalier  to  fight 
for  the  king  and  a  minor  poet  to  write  some  long- 
forgotten  verse. 

But  it  cannot  be  said  that  Mr.  Davenport  has, 
to  use  his  own  phrase,  '  occupied  the  leisure  hours 
of  some  fifteen  years '  to  any  good  purpose.  An 
opening  paragraph  giving  as  the  'earliest  named 
member  of  the  family '  a  Domesday  tenant  named 
Sampson  rests  solely  on  a  remark  of  honest 
Habingdon  that  he  knew  not  whether  there  was 
any  kinship  between  this  man  and  later  tenants  of 
Washbourne.  Following  this  we  have  a  precious 
'  Book  of  Family  Crests  '  cited  for  its  opinion  that 
'Washbourneisaname  of  ancient  Norman  descent.' 
How  or  in  what  sense  the  English  name  of  an  Eng- 
lish village  may  be  said  to  be  of '  Norman  descent' 
is  a  difficulty  which  we  leave  Mr.  Davenport  to 
settle  with  the  '  Book  of  Family  Crests.'  For  the 
rest,  Mr.  Davenport  has  spent  upon  canvassing 
items  from  printed  books  of  little  value  the  space 
which  should  have  been  given  to  records.  Even 
Domesday  Book  is  cited  at  third  hand,  and  when 
original  records  are  quoted  in  Latin  the  many 
abbreviated  words  puzzle  Mr.  Davenport. 

But  accuracy  can  hardly  be  looked  for  in  an 
author  whose  full-page  portrait  of  a  Washbourne 
ancestor  is  described  as  '  Thomas  Washbourne, 
D.D.  and  Poet.'  This  for  the  reason  that  the 
figure  holds  a  book  in  its  right  hand,  and 
in  spite  of  the  fact   that  a  large  shield  of  arms 


in  the  corner  proclaims  it  the  portrait  of  the  poet's 
father. 

The  copy  of  a  mother's  note  on  a  seven-year- 
old  child,  dead  in  1712,  is  the  curious  scrap  we 
shall  carry  from  this  unsatisfactory  book.  He  was 
a  child  'worthy  of  remembrance,  for  God  Almighty 
favoured  his  sickness  with  a  signal  honour  of 
heavenly  music  to  sound  from  him  ...  it  was 
only  heard  at  night.'  O.  B. 

SMALL  BOOKS,    PAMPHLETS,  &c. 

Messrs.  Seeley  have  just  issued  in  their  series  of 
Miniature  Portfolio  Monographs  {2s.)  a  reprint  of 
Dr.  Anderson's  book  on  '  Japanese  Wood  Engrav- 
ings,' which  will  always  have  an  interest  as  a 
pioneer  among  popular  treatises  on  this  fascinating 
subject.  The  second  number  of  '  The  Neolith ' 
(T.  Kell  and  Sons)  is  well  up  to  the  standard  of 
it  predecessors,  the  illustrations  to  Mr.  Lang's 
article  and  the  script  in  which  the  magazine  is 
written  deserving  special  praise,  although  the 
standard  of  art  and  literature  throughout  is  much 
above  the  average.  Messrs.  Jack  have  added  to 
their  little  series  of  '  Masterpieces  in  Colour ' 
(is.  6d.)  volumes  on  Titian  by  Mr.  L.  S.  Bensusan, 
and  on  Holman  Hunt  by  the  late  Miss  Coleridge. 
Titian  fares  ill  in  the  colour-printer's  hands.  Mr. 
Holman  Hunt's  more  positive  hues  stand  the 
ordeal  better.  Five  Greek  mirrors,  a  Muranese 
tabernacle  and  a  bronze  bust  of  Innocent  X  by 
Alessandro  Algardi,  in  which  the  pontiff  wears  a 
much  less  formidable  aspect  than  in  the  famous 
portrait  by  Velazquez,  are  the  chief  acquisitions 
illustrated  in  the  April  Bulletin  of  the  Metropolitan 
Museum,  New  York. 

As  we  go  to  press  we  have  received  the  fine  illus- 
trated catalogue  of  the  collection  of  the  late  M.  O. 
Homberg,  which  is  shortly  (^L-ly  11-16)  to  be  sold 
in  Paris  at  the  Georges  Petit  Gallery.  Lack  of  time 
and  space  forbid  us  to  dwell  upon  this  splendid  and 
varied  assemblage  of  things  Oriental  and  European, 
including  faience,  metalwork,  ivories,  manuscripts 
and  sculpture.  We  can  only  recommend  it  to  the 
attention  of  all  collectors  and  students. 


^  ART  IN  GERMANY,  AUSTRIA  AND  SWITZERLAND  c^ 


HE  complaint  of  the  dealers 
in  old  prints — namely,  that 
available  material  for  sales  is 
becoming  ominously  scarce 
— certainly  is  not  without 
foundation.  Comparing  the 
catalogues  of  the  three  prin- 
cipal auction  firms  nowadays 
with  those  that  were  issued  about  fifteen  years 
ago,  it  is  easy  to  note  a  marked  difference.  To-day 
we  find  specimens  by  masters  of  secondary  im- 
portance catalogued  singly  which  were  formerly 
relegated  to  'job  lots '  at  the  end  of  the  sale.   Even 

114 


such  things  as  the  portraits  by  the  Louis  XIV 
engravers  were  only  furtively  introduced  in  a 
catalogue  of  first-rate  standing,  and  names  like 
Carmona,  Collaert,  Fruytiers,  Mouzyn,  Peeters, 
Pitau  never  figured  as  distinct  features  in  the  good 
old  times,  when  work  by  the  famous  engravers 
and  the  'little  masters'  was  plentiful,  and  the 
collector  scarcely  deigned  to  consider  men  like 
those  I  have  just  named.  In  order  to  fill  up  a  sale 
catalogue,  the  dealer  to-day  has  to  resort  to  the 
minor  work,  and  is  also  compelled  to  connive  at 
conditions  of  impression  or  preservation  which 
would  formerly  have  disqualified  the  print. 


Art  in  Germany 


This  year  there  are  only  two  important  print 
sales  on  ;  both  Mr.  Gutekunst,  of  Stuttgart,  and 
Mr.  Boerner,  of  Leipzig,  have  been  fortunate  in 
so  far  as  they  are  able  to  offer  fine  old  collections 
for  sale,  and  are  not  limited  to  the  dispersal  of 
such  stray  material  as  they  have  been  able  to 
collect  in  the  course  of  the  year. 

Mr.  Boerner  sells  at  auction  on  May  5th  and 
6th  a  part  of  the  collection  of  original  drawings 
by  the  late  Ed.  Cichorius,  who  had  homes  both  ui 
Dresden  and  Leipzig.  Mr.  Cichorius  collected 
Dutch  and  Flemish  drawings  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  drawings  by  German  artists  of  the  former 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  drawings  by 
Adrian  Ludwig  Richter.  The  seventeenth-century 
drawings  are  reserved  for  a  later  occasion.  The 
majority  of  Cichorius's  German  nineteenth-century 
drawings  have  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
Dresden  Royal  Print  Room.  Boerner's  catalogue, 
however,  enumerates  some  two  hundred  specimens 
of  excellent  quality  by  such  artists  as  Chodowiecki, 
Erhard,  Genelli,  Klein,  J.  A.  Koch,  G.  Mind  (the 
painter  of  cats),  F.  v.  Olivier,  Overbeck,  Preller, 
Rethel,  Rottmann,  Schnorr,  Schwind,  Steinle,  and 
a  number  of  others  who  have  risen  out  of  an 
imdeserved  obscurity  in  consequence  of  the 
attention  which  the  Berlin  centenary  exhibition 
has  called  to  their  work.  The  Ludwig  Richter 
collection  is  remarkable  and  truly  unique.  The 
Dresden  Print  Room  has  secured  only  a  minor 
part  of  this,  and  what  was  left  over  for  the  Boerner 
sale  consequently  covers  all  the  phases  of  Richter's 
art,  and  includes  a  large  percentage  of  his  best 
life  work.  Cichorius  was  an  enthusiast  and  one 
of  Richter's  most  intimate  personal  friends. 
Under  these  circumstances  his  collection  of 
Richter  drawings  naturally  grew  to  be  excep- 
tional. 

Mr.  Boerner  follows  up  this  sale  with  one  of  old 
prints,  which  is  not  very  large,  yet  contains  some 
fine  rarities — for  example,  Lutlicr  as  'Junker  J  org' 
by  Cranach  (Sch.  179),  a  woodcut  that  has  not 
figured  in  any  sale  for  years,  a  fine  copper-plate 
Passion,  St.  Jerome  in  his  Cell,  Melencolia,  Dream, 
and  Naiivity  by  Diirer,  a  very  good  'petite  toinbe  ' 
by  Rembrandt,  the  scarce  Baldung  Madonna 
(Pass.  65),  some  good  Hirschvogel,  Ostade,  Rai- 
mondi,  etc. 

Mr.  Gutekunst  sells,  besides  prints  taken  from 
his  own  stock,  the  Marsden  J.  Perry  and  the  Fritz 
Rumpf  collections  on  the  i8th-23rd  of  May. 
The  two  pieces  de  resistance  are  a  '  Meister  des 
Hausbuchs,T2t'c>  Wrestling  Peasants  (Lehrs  63),  and 
a  Master  E.S.,  a  Gothic  monstrance  (undescribed). 
This  last  was  unearthed  only  a  few  months  ago  at 
Munich  ;  it  is  unique.  Although  a  specialist  of  the 
order  of  Professor  Lehrs  has  been  hunting  up  and 
cataloguing  the  work  of  E.  S.  for  twenty-five  years, 
it  has  never  been  met  with  heretofore.  I  he  Prisoner 
by  an  anonymous  Italian  of  the  fifteenth  century 


(Pass,  v,  page  78,  No.  25),  once  in  Ottley's  collec- 
tion, is  likewise  the  only  copy  known  of  this  print. 
Some  further  great  rarities  are  Eve  and  Cain  by 
Dirk  Vellert  (B.  i),  Tlie  Daughter  of  Herod  (Geis- 
berg  300),  The  Organ  Player  (G.  409)  and  The 
Knight  (G.  405)  by  Israhel  van  Meckenem,  The 
Dance  of  Putti  by  Marcantonio  Raimondi,  The 
Doge's  Procession  (Andresen  65)  by  Ammann  and 
Christ  upon  the  Cross  (Lehrs  29)  by  Wenzel  von 
(^hniitz.  The  catalogue  further  comprises  excep- 
tional collections  of  Durer  and  Rembrandt  prints 
and  very  fine  ones  of  the  work  of  Daulle,  the 
Drevets,  Van  Dyck  (a  first  state  of  the  Jan  de 
IVael),  Edelinck,  Goya  (the  line  etchings  after 
Velazquez),  J.  Grateloup,  I^Lisson,  Nanteutl,  G.  F. 
Schmidt,  C.  Visscher,  VViUe  and  Woollett.  There 
are  also  some  Japanese  colour-prints  and  a  num- 
ber of  etchings  by  Klinger. 

Klinger  etchings  were  the  principal  attraction 
in  Messrs.  Amsler  and  Ruthardt's  spring  sale 
which  is  already  past.  It  followed  only  a  few 
months  after  the  Mohrmann  sale,  but  prices  have 
risen  again  since  then.  Work  by  Klinger,  which 
the  artist  sold — according  to  my  notes — fifteen 
years  ago  for  about  ;^400,  fetched  no  less  than 
Ji3>-5°  (including  the  auctioneer's  5  per  cent, 
supercharges)  at  this  sale.  Occasionally  people, 
cautious  rather  than  sagacious,  raise  their  voice 
against  the  purchase  of  the  work  of  living  men. 
Here  is  a  signal  proof  of  the  fallacy  of  their 
reasoning.  The  Dresden  Print  Room'bought  its 
magnificent  Klinger  collection  many  years  ago  for 
a  trifle  :  it  was  sheer  prudence. 

William  Blumhardt,  lately  a  citizen  of  Mann- 
heim, bequeathed  £s,ooo  to  this  town  for  the 
juu-chase  of  works  of  art.  A  once-famous  statue  of 
Sappho  by  Dannecker  has  come  into  the  possession 
of  the  gallery  at  Stuttgart.  The  museum  at  Basle 
has  purchased  two  important  canvases  by  Albert 
von  Keller,  several  of  whose  works  were  recently 
acquired  by  the  Bavarian  Government  for  its 
museums.  Among  the  recent  acquisitions  of  the 
Kaiser-Friedrich  Museum  at  Berlin  there  figure 
a  Female  Portrait,  by  Roger  van  der  Weyden,  a 
Mater  Dolorosa,  by  Paolo  Caliari,  a  Latona,  by  Paul 
Bril,  and  a  carved  panel  of  the  Bavarian  school, 
sixteenth  century,  representing  the  Fountain  of 
Love.  The  museum  at  Magdeburg  has  bought 
the  marble  Head  of  Si.  John  'the  Baptist  by  Rodin. 
;/,"5ooo  has  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
municipality  of  Winterthur  by  a  citizen  of  that 
town  for  the  erection  of  a  new  museum. 

Berlin's  stock  of  genuine  Rembrandts  has  just 
been  increased  by  the  hitherto  unknown  Portrait 
of  a  Young  Man,  which  has  come  into  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  Koppel.  It  was  bought  by  i\Ir.  Hum- 
phry Ward  at  a  London  sale  some  time  ago,  and 
was  then  altogether  unrecognizable  because  it  had 
been  quite  repainted.  The  new  coating  of  paint 
which  had  aimed  at  '  prettifying '  the  original  was 


I  I 


Art  in   Germany 


carefully  removed  by  the  famous  Munich  picture 
restorer  Hauser,  and  as  it  disappeared  a  fine 
portrait  of  a  young  man  with  blonde  hair,  turning 
his  face  back  to  the  spectator,  came  to  view.  The 
young  man  wears  a  black  hat ;    his  right  hand  is 


concealed  by  his  cloak.     Finely  painted  as  they 
are,  his   features  and   expression  are  in   no   wise 
charming,    and    this    probably    accounts    for    the 
picture  having  been  repainted,  in  order   to  give- 
better  looks  to  the  model.  H.  W.  S. 


cA^  ART  IN  AMERICA  cA? 


ROSSETTf  :  AN  OBSERVATION 
One  of  the  favourite  literary  amusements  of  the 
last  century  was  the  depreciation  of  its  great  men  ; 
remorse  followed  in  the  form  of  sycophantic 
adulation,  which  generally  preceded  contemptuous 
neglect.  In  our  new  century,  with  all  its  bright 
and  uncertain  prospects,  its  unexplored  perspec- 
tives, we  have  changed  all  that ;  we  reverse  the 
process.  Then,  after  all,  we  are  only  children 
eight  years  old,  and  the  toys  of  the  intellectual 
grown-ups  seem  a  little  dusty  and  not  a  little 
damaged.  We  have  licked  off  all  the  paint  that 
was  going  to  do  us  any  harm  ;  there  is  a  general 
feeling  in  the  nursery  that  the  things  can  fje  sent 
to  some  charitable  institution  sucTi  as  the  Tate 
Gallery.  Whistler  was  the  last  Victorian  rattle 
which  gave  us  any  pleasure  or  amusement ;  les, 
jeiiitcs  fcioces  have  already  begun  to  find  fault 
with  the  music  of  the  Nocturnes. 

Rossetti  was  lucky  enough  to  die  so  long  ago  as 
1882.  His  reputation  survives  even  a  most  unfor- 
tunate series  of  biographies  and  monographs.  Two 
or  three  only  are  serious  tributes  to  his  memory — 
notably  Pater's  well-known  appreciation  and 
Mr.  Arthur  Benson's  brilliant  essay  ;  while  Mr. 
^H.  C.  Marillier's  admirable  and  indispensable 
record  of  the  painter's  progress  is,  indeed,  that  of 
a  Greatheart  who  has  got  lost  on  his  arrival  in 
Lthe  Celestial  City.  But,  oddly  enough,  though 
Mr.  Swinburne  and  others  have  written  with 
eloquence  and  conviction  of  the  man  and  poet, 
there  has  been  no  satisfactory  critical  estimate  of 
the  artist  who  I  think  it  no  exaggeration  to  say 
was,  with  the  exception  of  Turner,  the  greatest 
personality  in  the  English  school  of  the  nineteenth 
\j:entury. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  critic  to  explain  his  own 
jargon;  and  I  must  hasten  to  addthatwhen  writingof 
pictures  I  distinguish  between  the  great  painter  and 
the  great  artist.  There  have  been  many  great  painters 
in  the  world  (not  perhaps  many  in  England), 
but  the  artists  are  few,  either  in  England  or  else- 
where. A  great  painter  is  one  who  has  learned 
to  handle  with  unsurpassable  skill  the  mediums  at 
his  disposal.  In  the  middle  ages  those  mediums 
were  tempera  and  the  materials  of  buoii  fresco ;  in 
modern  times,  oils  and  water  colour.  Giotto, 
Duccio,  Van  Eyck,  Titian,  Velazquez,  Hals, 
Gainsborough,  Chardin,  for  example,  were  great 
painters  in  the  first  instance  ;  that  they  were  great 
artists  as  well  is  beside  the  point.  It  will  be  clearer 
if  I  mention  the  names  of  two  artists  (among  the 

116 


greatest  the  world  has  ever  seen)  whom   I  do  not 
think    we    can    call    great   painters — Diirer   and 
Michelangelo.     From  their  finest  paintings,  surely 
it  would  be  affectation  to  pretend  that  we  derive 
the    same    pleasure,    the   same   satisfaction    with 
technique,  the  same  joy  in  paint,  that  we  derive 
from   Van   Eyck  or  Titian.     Diirer  and   Michel- 
angelo   are   terrific   indestructible   forces,    but   if 
all  their  pictures  perished  it  would  be  a  loss  of 
less    magnitude   than    the    destruction    of    every 
Velazquez.      The  engravings  of  the  one  and  the 
sculpture  of  the  other  would  still  continue  like  the 
art  of    Leonardo  to  act  and  react  on  the  art  of^ 
Europe.      I     do    not    attempt    any    comparison 
between    Michelangelo    and     Diirer  ;    nor    do    I 
wish    to   compare   either  of   them   with    Rossetti 
except  in  the  intellectual  influence  they  exercised, 
as  artists  and  intellectuals,  on  their  contemporaries 
and   successors.     An    intelligent   appreciation   of] 
this  aspect  of  the  Englishman's  genius  will  help  to 
place  Rossetti  in  the  exalted  niche  which  I  venture 
to  claim  for  him. 

In  the  opinion  of  his  immediate  hostile  critics 
Rossetti  could  not  draw,  though  a  sense  of  colour 
was  occasionally  conceded  hun.  The  difference 
between  a  good  drawing  and  a  correct  drawing  is 
only  beginning  to  be  understood  ;  and  it  is  by  a 
singular  irony  of  circumstance  that  now,  when 
our  drawing  is  much  more  correct  than  it  ever 
was  in  the  last  century,  Rossetti's  pen  and  pencil 
works  should  be  so  highly  prized  by  modern 
draughtsmen  some  of  whom  find  his  exquisite 
colour  too  primitive  and  daring. 

No  less  uncritical  than  the  habit  of  blaming  a 
painter  because  he  is  not  like  another  is  that 
praise  of  an  artist  for  what  he  does  not  possess. 
The  eulogists  of  Rossetti  have  tried  to  patch  up 
the  weak  places  in  his  armour  with  the  rags  they 
have  torn  from  his  less  capable  contemporaries. 
The  arid  teaching  of  the  Royal  Academy  did  not 
extenuate  his  faults,  which  are  obvious  to  any 
drawing  master.  From  what  we  know  of  his 
character  he  would  have  chafed  under  the 
discipline  of  any  school,  however  admirable ; 
whether  that  of  Squarcione,  the  Carracci  or 
Professor  Tonks.  We  must  remember  his  irritation 
at  being  asked  to  delineate  galley-pots  in  the  studio 
of  Madox  Brown.  Let  us  realize  and  accept  his 
limitations  in  order  to  appraise  him. 

In  the  manipulation  of  oil  he  was  never  quite 
proficient— and  that  is  why  he  is  not  a  great 
painter.    But  who  shall  define  the  cockleshells,  the 


Art  in  America 


staff  and  sandals  of  the  Artist  ?  That  component 
philosopher's  stone,  hke  genius,  lies  somewhere 
hidden  in  the  alembic  of  art  criticism,  and  may 
possibly  be  found  materialized  in  some  wizard's 

[retort.  At  all  events,  only  sheer  genius  will 
account  for  Rossetli's  few  oil  pictures  which  are 
adequate  expressions  of  that  genius  ;  such  are 
Moiiiia   Vaiiua,  The  Beloved,  and  The  Blue  Boiver 

1^ — the  finest  of  them  all. 

The  practice  of  tempera  painting  had  not  been 
revived  when  the  Prcraphaelite  movement  was 
initiated  ;  it  was  never  employed  by  Burne-Jones 
even,  and  Rossetti  found  in  water  colour  a  medium 
more  suitable  than  oil  for  the  expression  of  his  art 
and  its  archaistic  formulas.  It  is  often  a  shock 
to  see  again  some  of  Rossetti's  oil  paintings. 
Beautiful  designs  which  in  reproduction  are 
still  beautiful,  on  careful  reinspection  will  be 
found  to  be  badly  painted  ;  there  is  something 
positively  common  in  the  quality  of  the  paint — or 
let  mesay  in  the  absence  of  quality.  Vou  understand 
that  it  must  have  been  something  of  the  kind  which 
induced  Whistler  to  suggest  the  substitution  of  a 
sonnet  for  a  picture  in  the  frame,  when  invited  by 
Rossetti  to  admire  all  three.  It  has  been  suggested 
in    recent    memoirs    that    Rossetti's    Preraphael- 

jTlism  was  a  very  half-hearted  affair.  Arguments 
about  the  procession  of  that  idea  are  like  those  on 
the  Filioqite   clause ;    they  are   interminable   and 

^terile.  Rossetti's  own  painting,  however,  and  his 
own  written  words  prove  how  far  he  was  removed 
in  spirit  and  sympathy  from  the  exact  naturalism 
of  Tlie  Cnrpeiiter's  SIiop  by  Millais  or  the  brilliant 
Hireling  Shepherd  of  Mr.  Holman  Hunt.  The 
Ophelia  of  the  former  is,  perhaps,  a  better  and 
more  typical  picture,  from  which  the  divergence 
can  be  noted  ;  because  there  is  no  pietistic  motive, 
and  because  the  model  being  Miss  Siddall  there  is 
a  superficial  resemblance  to  Rossettismus — but  it 
is  only  superficial.  Millais,  v.-e  know,  repudiated 
in  later  life  the  possibility  that  he  was  ever 
influenced  by  the  greater  genius  and  lesser  painter 
for  whom  he  recorded  a  personal  dislike.  I  think 
we  may  accept  his  assurance— along  with  the 
unfortunate  circumstance,  accidental  maybe,  that 
all  his  best  pictures  were  painted  during  the  years 
that  he  was  in  touch,  if  not  with  Rossetti,  at  least 
with  Rossetti's  art,  through  the,  to  him,  more 
sympathetic  account  of  it  given  doubtless  by  Mr. 
Holman  Hunt  from  time  to  time.  We  have  good 
authority  for  believing  that  things  heard  are 
greater  than  things  seen.  We  know,  too,  that 
Ruskin  conjured  forth  dogmas  of  which  the 
Brotherhood  was  innocent,  and  that  Rossetti  must 
have  been  the  furthest  removed  from  the  Ruskin 
ideal.  But  that  wonderful  critic,  who  was  blind  to 
thequahties  of  Whistler  and  Madox  Brown,  became 
magnetized  by  a  marvellous  personality  and  an 
art  that  was  as  'contrairey'  to  his  teaching  as 
to  a  Mrs.  Gummidge.     It  was,  in  fact,  Rossetti 


who  influenced  Ruskin  ;  and  he  influenced  his 
master  Madox  Brown  a  great  deal  more  than 
Madox  Brown  influenced  him.  Madox  Brown, 
like  Millais,  was  a  far  better  oil  painter,  and  his 
execution  is  superior  generally  to  Rossetti's.  But 
in  invention,  beauty,  design  and  colour-sense  he 
was  the  lesser  man,  tliough  he  improved  under  the 
tutelage  of  his  pupil.  Critics  have  noted  with  sur- 
prise a  certain  Preraphaelitism  in  Whistler's  early 
pictures ;  but  I  think  it  will  be  found  that  it  is 
Rossetti's  impulse  or  inspiration — a  Melusine  or 
Lilith  that  crept  for  a  moment  into  the  impres- 
sionist's Eden.  Be/ore  thcMirrorand  The  Princess  of 
the  Porcelain  Conntry  are  well-known  examples. 
And  I  cannot  think  the  obvious  relationship  must 
be  attributed  to  the  fair  models  having  belonged  to 
similar  types  ;  or  to  having  been  the  same  person, 
as  in  the  case  of  Millais's  Ophelia.  It  is  a  momen- 
tary similarity  of  treatment,  sentiment  and 
feminism  which  impregnated  Whistler.  I  make 
the  observation  with  all  proper  reserve,  since  I  do 
not  wish  to  arouse  any  angry  protests  from  those 
brave  Horatios  who  guard  Battersea  Bridge ; 
and  for  whom  there  is  nothing  in  heaven  or 
earth  except  what  was  dreamt  in  the  Butterfly's 
philosophy.  But  you  could  not  know  Rossetti, 
you  cannot  know  his  art,  and  remain  Laodicean. 
You  must  hate  it  or  adore  it ;  and  you  must  feel, 
as  Millais  did,  its  sweetness  and  strength.  . 

English  painting,  when  it  was  neither  landscape 
nor  portraiture,  had  contributed  nothing  to  the 
art  of    Europe  until   Rossetti — nothing  tliat  was 
not  done  better  by  some  one  else.     But  Rossetti  is___/ 
unique  and  gives  us  something  that  is  not  to  be 
found  in  any  old  or  modern  master.     He  visualizes"^ 
thoughts,  motives,  colours  and  designs  in  a  way 
no  other  artist  has  attempted  or  contrived,  unless 
an    exception    be  made  of    Mr.  Charles  Conder, 
whose  talent  lies  in  another  and  narrower  direc-;J 
tion. 

The  trend  of  future  criticism  will,  I  believe,  be 
in  the  direction  of  detaching  him  from  the  purely 
local  disturbance  of  Preraphaelitism — because  his 
influence  is  much  more  important,  more  world- 
wide. Preraphaelitism  as  an  archaistic  revival, 
too,  was  not  the  revolution  it  was  supposed 
to  be  ;  it  was  a  natural  development  of 
English  painting,  a  fact  which  any  one  can 
attest  by  studying  the  earlier  work  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  in  the  paintings  of  George 
Richmond  and  the  pencil  drawings  of  Alfred 
Stevens,  for  example.  Rossetti's  debt  to  the  move- 
ment was  far  less  than  that  of  the  movement  to 
himself.  From  the  days  of  Reynolds  English 
painting  always  derived  its  nobler  impulses  from 
Italy  ;  and  artists  have  from  time  to  time  always 
tried  to  release  themselves  from  a  Batavian  bondage 
and  provincialismby  onejourncy  to  that  intellectual 
Emmaus.  In  Rossetti  by  some  divine  or  fortuitous 
avatar  Italy  came  to  England.    And  when  the  final 


117 


Art  in  America 


essay  on  his  art  comes  to  be  written  (by  Mr.  Charles 

Ricketts,  if  I  may  hazard  a  hope)  that  should  be  the 

attitude  we  may  expect  of  the  critic.     IVIoreover, 

when  we  remember  the  surprising  admission  of 

Bell-Scott  that  Preraphaelitism  was   due   to   the 

discovery  of  photography,  we  can  better  realize  the 

gulf    between    Rossetti  and  his  associates ;    that 

the  painter  of  Lady  Lililli  was  a  hybrid,  without 

reference  to  his  name.    All  great  art  is  hybrid  in 

its  origin,  if  not  in  its  manifestation.  Then  who  can 

deny  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the  daguerreotype 

in  the  BlacI; Bntiistvickcr  a.nd{he  Portrait  cf  Riisl;in 

byMillais  ?— while  some  other  well-known  pictures 

of  the  school  anticipated  the  triumph  of  chromo- 

lithography.    They  have  at  all  events  the  actuality 

if  nol  the  truth  of  process.     Thus  their  popularity 

maybe  accounted  for,  in  a  nation  that  always  prefers 

reproductions  to  original  painting.     In  the  more 

actual  landscapes  of  Rossetti's  pictures,  even  where 

they  can  be  identified — in   the  Boiccr  Mcadozv,  for 

instance — there  is  none  of  the  real  Preraphaelitism 

distinguishing  the  pictures  of  Mr.  Holman  Hunt, 

Dyce  or  Burton.     Howell  used  to  say  that  Ruskin 

never  forgave  Rossetti  for  inventing  trees  instead 

of  copying  some  in  Red  Lion  Square  for  one  of 

his  backgrounds. 

It  is  a  facile  and  convenient  theory  to  make 
Rossetti  responsible  for  the  disciples  who  have 
worn  out  the  convention  of  Burne-Jones  ;  though 
W\Q  Damsel  of  the  Sa lie  Gracl  is  a  terrible  piece  dc 
conviction.  And  it  will  be  some  one's  duty  to  rescue 
the  master  and  pupil  from  the  claws  of  their 
imitators.  It  is  of  course  the  archaistic  elements 
common  to  Rossetti,  Burne-Jones  and  to  all  the 
generic  Preraphaelites  which  confuse  the  issues 
and  involve  a  falsified  grouping  of  names  and 
i-epiitations.  Alarmed  by  the  brilliancy  of  their 
exhibitionsthroughoutthesixties,  the  Academicians 
banned  every  painter  of  excellence  for  a  Pre- 
raphaelite — until  Whistler's  influence  becoming 
a  scandal,  the  excellents  were  dubbed  impres- 
sionists. Poor  Albert  Moore  was  excluded  on 
both  counts — the  frying-pan  and  the  fire.  But 
then  the  Academicians  could  always  point  to 
Millais  as  an  example  of  how  by  determination, 
pains  and  hard  work  you  could  remain  a  success- 
ful Academician  without  being  an  artist. 

As  earlyas  1876  Mr.  Swinburne,  whose  admirable 
art  criticism  has  been  adumbrated  by  more  brilliant 
powers,  found  it  necessary  to  defend  his  friend  for 
being  lioth  a  poet  and  a  painter.  In  that  age  of 
specialists  it  was  hardly  regarded  as  quite  respect- 
able ;  the  admirers  were  told  that  something  must 
be  wrong  with  the  poetry  or  the  painting ;  and 
Mr.  Swinburne  wittily  observed  that  the  possessor 
of  a  double  talent  was  always  open  to  a  double 
kmd  of  attack.  Later  on,  when  there  followed  on 
the  artist's  death  the  reaction  against  the  uncritical 
adulation  of  the  eighties,  and  the  very  name 
'poet-painter'  induced  nausea,  French  aesthetics 

118 


began  to  be  preached  in  Chelsea.     It  was  decided 
that  Rossetti  endeavoured  to  express  in  art  what 
could  only  be  expressed  in  literature — '  Literature 
straying  into  paint '  was  the  phrase  used.     Though 
he   was   never   numbered    among    the  anecdote- 
mongers,  he  was  relegated  to  the  rank  of  illustrators 
by  the  '  new  criticism.'     The  late  Mr.   R.  A.  M. 
Stevenson,  the  prophet  of  that  school  of  criticism 
(for  it  is  rather  a  school  of  criticism  than  of  art), 
paid  however  a  tribute  to  Rossetti,  for  being  a  great 
innovator  and   inventor  who  might  be  included  in 
the  narrow  paddock  of  '  paint  for  paint's  sake  ' ;  it 
was  the  Blue  Boicer  which  converted  him.     That 
picture  is  indeed  a  masterpiece  in  which  beauty 
seems  justified  of  all  her  children,  caring  nothing 
for  explanations.     For  this   exquisite  work    Mrs. 
Schott  {iiee  Miss  Fanny  Cornforth)  was  the  inspir- 
ing model  whose  beauty  is  again  immortalized  in_ 
The  Lad\  Lilith.      The  oil  version  of  this  subject  1 
belongs   to    1864,   and   was   entirely    spoiled    by 
the  artist  in  1872,  the  head  being  repainted  from 
a  different  model.    Fortunately  two  water-colour 
replicas  had  been  executed  in  1867  for  Mr.  Coltart 
of  Liverpool  and  Mr.  Stevenson  of  Tynemouth 
respectively.     It  is  the  former  and  the  finer  (here 
reproduced)  which  has  been  secured  for  the  New 
York  museum  by  Mr.  Roger  Fry.     A  connoisseur] 
who  remembers  the  oil  picture  before  it  was  ruinea 
informs  me  that  Mr.  Coltart's  water  colour  was 
immeasurably  superior  in  the  opinion  of  Rossetti 
himself ;  and  the  circumstance  that  he  attempted 
to  improve  the  oil  painting  corroborates  this  view. 
It  would,  indeed,  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  more 
radiant  e.xample  of  Rossetti's  art  in  that  medium, 
in  which  his  most  characteristic  work  was  achieved, _ 
with  the  few  exceptions  I  have  mentioned.     For  irij 
spite  of  his  indignant  letter  to  the  '  Athena2um '  in 
1865    protesting   against   being   called   'a  water- 
colour  painter  who  only  occasionally  used  oils,' 
the   criticism   was    true   if    the    description  was 
inaccurate. 

An  exclamation  of  Ruskin  is  irresistibly  recalled 
before  Lady  Lilith.  '  You  can  cram,'  he  said,  on 
being  shown  the  wonderful  design  of  The  Weeping 
Queens  for  Moxon's  Tennyson.  Every  available 
space  in  Lady  Lilith  is  furnished  with  the  acces- 
sories the  artist  loved ;  but  they  are  not  mere^ 
accessories.  In  the  colour-scheme  they  all  have 
significance  and  unity  of  purpose.  The  picture 
illustrates  Rossetti's  preferences  in  colour  quoted 
by  Mr.  Marillier  a  propos  of  the  Blue  Boicer,  to 
which  they  scarcely  fit  with  the  same  nicety.  '  The 
order  in  which  Tlove  colours,'  writes  Rossetti, 
'are  :  No.  i,  pure,  light,  warm  green  ;  No.  2,  deep 
gold  colour  ;  No.  3,  certain  tints  of  grey  ;  No.  4, 
shadowy  steel  blue ;  No.  5,  brown  with  crimson 
tinge;  No.  6,  scarlet.'  The  reflection  in  the 
mirror  of  the  garden  outside  (No.  i),  Lady 
Z,;7;7/;'i- hair  (No.  2),  portions  of  the  dress  (No.  3), 
the  eyes  (No.  4),  the  foxgloves  (No.  5),  the  coral 


m 


Till      L  M  i"i     I  II  I  1  II,     I.  ,     ,  '  \  \  I  I      (,  \l;l.'ll    1      I,"  i-^l    M  I.       l;l  I,  liXTI.V 
ACol  INEl)     l;y      Till-,      Ml-.TUdlMLLTAN      Ml  SEl  M,     XIAV     YdlJK 


aI;t  in  ameUica 

I'LATK   I 


>''^ 


,^' 


,_    o 
c    y. 


Art  in  America 


on  the  wrist  with  the  poppy  in  the  glass 
(No.  6)  are  painted  testamenls  of  Rossetti's 
naive  confidences.  A  breadth  in  the  painting,  in 
spite  of  the  elaborate  detail,  differentiates  the  work 

Lirom  others  by  the  artist's  associates  and  friends. 
Not  only  by  the  title  does  Rossetti  lift  an  entirely 
genre  subject  into  a  higher  and  harder  field  of  paint- 
ing :  it  is  by  the  grandeur  of  treatment,  the  imagina- 
tive splendour  of  the  colour,  the  invention  of  design. 
You  can  hardly  help  suspecting  that  the  name  was 
an  afterthought,  because  he  refers  simply  to  the 
'Toilette  Picture'  in  writing  of  it  to  his  mother. 
Nevertheless  the  haunting  fascination  of  the  Lilith 
legend  may  have  been  the  direct  source  of  inspira- 
tion. On  the  back  of  the  frame  in  his  own  hand- 
writing is  a  translation  from  the  passage  in  Goethe 
where  Lilith  must  have  first  attracted  his  attention. 
All  the  biographers  have  dwelt  on  the  subtlety  of 
presenting  her  as  a  seductive  modern  lady  rather 
than  Eve's  predecessor,  the  mother  of  the 
glittering  sons  who  move  in  the  woods  and 
waters.  It  is  undeniably  typical  of  Rossetti's 
personal  and  peculiar  Preraphaelitism,  this 
Talmudic  or  progenetic  idea  of  womanhood,  and 
recalls  the  amusing  story  of  the  lady  who  asked 
Mr.  Leathart  of  Newcastle  '  if  he  did  not  find  it 
very  difficult  to  obtain  pre-Adamite  pictures.'  At 
the  same  time  it  is  harmful  to  Rossetti's  reputa- 
tion if  the  literary  motives  in  his  pictures  are 
dwelt  upon  rather  than  their  significance  as 
paintings  and  drawings.  We  must  not  be  lured 
by  his  exquisite  poetry  into  overlooking  the 
perfections  and  imperfections  of  his  delicate  and 
peccant  art.  The  reflex  action  of  his  poetry  and 
his  painting  belongs  to  the  history  of  the  man, 
not  the  artist.      Poetry   does    not   palliate    faulty 

I    execution. 

^  After  1872,  whether  on  account  of  chloral,  or  an 
unfortunate  communion  with  literary  parasites,  or 
popularity,  involving  too  much  dependence  on  his 
assistant  Treffy  Dunn,  his  paintings  and  drawings 
are  of  doubtful  value  in  the  artistic  or  commercial 
sense.  The  inarticulate  drawing  is  monotonous, 
the  types  are  affected  and  monstrous,  the  colour 
jis  positively  unpleasant.  When  Longfellow  visited 
Tile  artist  before  returning  to  America,  he  is 
supposed  to  have  said,  '  Tell  your  brother  that  one 
of  my  greatest  disappointments  has  been  my 
failure  to  meet  the  author  of  that  marvellous  poem 
"The  Blessed  Damozel.'"  If  the  dates  would 
only  fit,  the  story  might  be  told  as  an  instance 
of  Longfellow's  humorous  artistic  perception  : 
perhaps,  after  all,  it  was  an  invention  of  Whistler  ; 
and  it  would  be  still  better  if  the  paintino  of  the 
Blessed  Damozel  (1876)  had  been  in  the  studio  at  the 
time.  I  have  often  wondered  why  Mr.  Leyland 
only  possessed  a  single  first-rate  Rossetti ;  this 
was  the  superb  little  Love's  Greeting  which  he 
acquired  from  Mr.  Graham.  Yet  it  is  by  the 
Leyland  works  that  Rossetti  was  one  time  chiefly 


known  to  the  public,  and  to  a  generation  of 
younger  artists  who  are  naturally  appalled  until 
they  have  seen  the  wonderful  collections  of  Mr. 
Fairfax  Murray  now  at  Birmingham  and  other 
pictures  in  old  master  exhibitions.  The  real 
tragedy  of  genius  is  the  applause  generated 
by  its  errors,  not  the  neglect  of  its  imperishable 
virtues. 

To  realize  Rossetti's  significance  we  must  study 
his  art  prior  to  1872  ;  and  to  appreciate  his  influ- 
ence we  must  not  begin  by  depreciating,  in  the 
modern  fashion,  Burne-Jones,  or  admiring  the 
Sislers  Van-Bork.  We  must  look  for  his  sweetness 
and  his  strength  among  contemporary  artists — for 
instance,  Mr.  William  Rothenstein,  who  by  a 
gracious  coincidence  emphasized,  in  a  domestic 
sense,  an  artistic  debt  already  acknowledged  in 
many  charming  drawings.  And  at  a  recent  exhi- 
bition in  London  where  Rossetti  was  inadequately 
represented  (at  least  as  the  delineator  of  fair 
women),  Mr.  Charles  Shannon's  exquisite  por- 
trait of  Mrs.  Campbell  enabled  myself  and  many 
others  to  overlook  the  alisence  of  Monna  Vanna, 
the  Blue  Boiver  and  the  enchantress  Ladv  Lilitli, 
whose  influence  on  New  York  will  not,  I  trust,' 
result  in  any  moral  debacle. 

Robert  Ross. 


AN  ALTARPIECE   OF   THE   CATALAN 
SCHOOL 

The  great  majority  of  pictures  of  the  Catalan  school 
are  to  be  found  in  the  museums  of  Barcelona  and 
Yich,  and  in  the  churches  of  the  surrounding 
country,  but  a  few  have  found  their  way  to  other 
countries.  In  the  Musee  des  Arts  Decoratifs  at 
Paris  there  is  the  important  retable  of  St.  John 
tlie  Baptist  by  Luis  Borassa,  and  a  similar  one 
representing  St.  Aiidre'u'  from  the  church  at 
Perpignan  is  now  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
New  York.  The  altarpiece  published  is  also  in 
New  York,  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Wm.  Laft'an, 
by  whose  courtesy  it  is  here  reproduced.  It  is 
certainly  a  striking  and  important  work  of  this 
curiously  interesting  school.  The  form  is  unusual, 
being  long  and  low  instead  of  upright.  The 
subjects  are  all  taken  from  the  Passion.  In  the  first 
panel  is  represented  the  Agony  injlie  Garden.  The 
garden  is  here  symbolized  by  hurdles,  a  convention 
which  is  constantly  met  with  also  in  Italian  art.  The 
composition  is  unusually  crowded  owing  to  the 
introduction  of  the  eight  Apostles  supposed  to  be  in 
another  part  of  the  garden.  In  spite  of  this  crowding, 
however,  the  artist  has  found  place  for  a  very 
original  dramatic  invention,  that  of  Judas  indicating 
Christ  to  the  soldiers  who  are  about  to  enter.  The 
next  panel  represents  the  Capture  of  Christ.  With 
the  object  of  telling  the  story  as  fully  as  possible, 
Christ  is  represented  as  healing  Malchus's  ear  at  the 


12 


3 


Art  in  America 

same  moment  that  Peter  has  raised  his  sword  to 
strike  it  off.  The  next  scene  is  Chvisl  brought  before 
Caiaphas,  an  overcrowded  but  vigorous  compo- 
sition. Then  follows  the  Croiviiiitg  icilh  Thorns  and 
Mockery,  then  the  Scourging,  and  finally  Pilate 
Washing  his  Hands.  Below  each  panel  is  the 
head  of  an  Apostle  with  a  scroll  on  which  are 
words  from  the  Creed.  The  framework  is  of 
late  gothic  design,  with  richly  tooled  and  punched 
gilding. 

The  compositions  show  an  artist  who  has  liut 
little  idea  of  essentially  pictorial  composition,  but 
who  understands  well  how  to  express  the  essentials 
of  the  situation  in  the  gothic  tradition  of  craftsman- 
ship. Such  compositions  are  the  lineal  descendants 
of  the  work  of  ivory  and  woodcarvers  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  But,  although  a  purely  gothic 
designer,  he  has  clearly  seen,  either  in  drawings  or 
prints,  specimens  of  Italian  Renaissance  architec- 
ture, and  he  has  seized  on  the  concave  shell  design 
with  a  strange  avidity,  repeating  it  with  reckless 
frequency  and  often  without  the  least  idea  of  its 
structural  import. The  effect  isalmost  more  Moorish 
than  classical,  but  one  cannot  doubt  the  origin. 
It  is,  indeed,  probably  one  of  the  earliest  examples 
of  the  Plateresque  style,  because,  as  Seiior  Sanpere 
y  Miquel  has  pointed  out,  classical  forms  were 
first  adopted  by  the  painters  of  the  Catalan  school, 
and  from  them  passed  on  to  the  architects  and 
designers  of  the  peninsula. 

I  have  here  assumed  what  perhaps  demands  some 
proof,  that  this  is  in  fact  a  work  of  a  Catalan  artist 
of  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Its  points 
of  contact  with  various  works  of  that  school  are, 
however,  many.  In  the  last  panel  we  find  that 
Pilate's  wife  has  a  head-dress  which  is  almost 
identical  with  that  worn  by  Sta.  Engracia  in  the 
picture  by  Bartolome  Vermejo  in  Mrs.  Gardner's 
collection.  The  servant  pouring  out  the  water  has 
almostasstrongaresemblanceto  the  kneeling  donor 
in  Sir  Julius  Wernher's  picture  by  the  same  artist. 
Again,  Pilate's  head-dress  both  in  the  Sfo;/;;i^/';(^and 
the  Washing  oj  Hands— -^  high  peaked  cap  with 
ermine  revers— is  precisely  that  of  the  judge  in 
the  four  panels  of  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  George,  now 
in  the  Louvre,  which  are  in  all  probability  works 
by  an  unknown'  master  of  this  school. 

Again,  we  find  the  faces  throughout  to  be  well 
drawn  and  highly  expressive  when  compared  with 
the  quite  childish  ignorance  and  incapacity  revealed 
in  the  figures.  The  faces  are  also  unduly  large  and 
separated  in  modelling  from  their  surroundings  in 
a  curious  manner  which  is  typical  of  much 
Catalan  painting.  The  type  of  face  too,  flat, 
expansive,  large-featured,  with  long  upper  lip  and 
wide  partly-opened  mouth,  is  typical  of  the  school 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

'  Senor  Sanpere  y  Miquel  gives  them  to  Jaime  Huguet,  but  I 
believe  this  was  an  earlier  painter  with  much  more  dramatic 
power  than  is  shown  by  Huguet. 

124 


As  Seiior  Sanpere  y  Miquel  (to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  almost  all  our  knowledge  of  this 
school)  has  shown,  painting  in  Barcelona  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  century  centred  round  the  atelier 
of  the  Vergos  family.  Of  the  founder,  Jaime 
Vergos  I,  we  know  nothing  ;  he  is  succeeded  by 
his  son  Jaime  Vergos  II,  who  is  known  to  have 
worked  on  the  altarpieceof  S.  Esteban  at  Granollers 
in  company  with  his  two  sons,  Pablo  and  Rafael. 
It  is  from  the  manner  in  which  we  name  the  three 
hands  in  this  altarpiece  that  we  derive  our  ideas  of 
the  three  masters.  Seiior  Sanpere  y  Miquel  thinks 
that  Pablo  was  the  greatest  of  the  three,  and  assigns 
to  him  all  the  most  striking  works,  from  the 
Condestable  altarpiece  of  1464  till  his  death  in  1495. 
Certainly  the  paintings  by  this  hand  have  great 
merit;  in  the  modelling  of  his  vividly  expressive 
faces,  in  the  strange  grey  colouring  of  his  flesh, 
and  to  some  extent  in  his  sentiment  he  reseinbles 
Borgognone.  Rafael  appears  as  mainly  a  feebler 
echo  of  Pablo,  while  to  the  father,  Jaime  Vergos  II, 
who  outlived  both  sons  and  died  about  1503,  Seiior 
Sanpere  y  Miquel  gives  works  of  such  totally 
different  character  and  of  dates  and  styles  so 
divergent  that  it  is  hard  to  form  any  clear  idea  of 
his  personality.  In  some  he  seems  to  be  as  advanced 
as  Pablo,  in  others  he  is  crudely  archaic.  Thus  in 
the  Retablo  of  San  Vicente  in  the  museum  at 
Barcelona  the  St.  Vincent  at  the  Stake  contains  faces 
full  of  character  and  subtly  expressive  drawing 
which  is  almost  indistinguishable  from  Pablo's 
finest  work.  This  is  given  to  Jaime  II,  his  father, 
but  he  is  also  credited  with  a  very  crude  and 
decidedly  earlier,  almost  barbaric  work,  the  Angels 
Comforting  St.  Vincent,  which  is  part  of  the  same 
altarpiece.  This  shows  how  difficult  it  has  been, 
even  with  so  prolonged  a  study  as  Senor  Sanpere 
y  Miquel  has  devoted  to  the  subject,  satisfactorily 
to  isolate  the  different  masters  of  the  Vergos  work- 
shop. 

I  mention  this  because,  while  Mr.  Laffan's  pic- 
ture has  the  general  characteristics  of  the  Vergos 
atelier  (note  in  particular  the  peculiar  halos),  it  is 
very  difficult  to  give  it  any  definite  name.  The 
heads  of  the  apostles  in  the  rounds  below  the 
panels  are  extremely  near  to  those  in  the  Pentecost 
panel  of  the  Condestable  retable  in  the  Museo  des 
Antiguedades  of  Barcelona.  This  is  given  to  Pablo 
Vergos,  but  it  appears  to  lack  {he  finesse  of  the  panel 
of  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  which  is  also  given  to 
him.  If,  as  seems  possible,  the  Pentecost  is  by 
the  same  hand  as  the  Resurrection  panel  in  the 
same  retable  and  this  hand  be  indeed  Jaime  Vergos 
II's,  the  older  and  less  accomplished  master,  I 
should  be  inclined  to  suppose  that  Mr.  Laffan's 
picture  is  by  him.  The  colouring,  like  the  com- 
position, refers  to  an  earlier,  more  purely  gothic 
tradition  than  Pablo's  delicate  harmonies,  and  it 
lacks  his  skilful  modelling. 

Roger  E.  Fry. 


.J- 


??/^e^i?*  gTc 


(S'S  PORTRAIT  OF  TENNYSON 
•^  FY   D.  S.   M  ■  COLL  rx» 


^\.^\<i(^'' 


hnk 


Win  tin : 


'•nirersof  theportn"''   ^"^enny- 

-~  may  challenge  tl;  :nent, 

pute  the  living  character  so 

lis's  canvas.  Nor 

-■      '*  the  poft 

thc^c  in 


-  ^,...;....;.i,   ;ur   the 

/lyson,  and    has   ob- 

the  executors  ot    Sir  James 

.  fFer   of  the  picture  for   a 

The    energy    and    good 

'^     the     Vela?.quez     in 

i    to    si: 

generally 


ned  from 
the  Fine  Art  Society,  who 
puoiiineu  an  engraving  after  it,  and  was 
shown  at  the  Society's  gallery  in  1881, 
when  the  first  Millais  exhibition  was 
brought  together.  It  has  since  then  been 
seen  at  the  Gr  Gallery  (1886)  and 

in  the  memoriai  v.  ^ii:i)ition  at  the  Academy 
(1898).      It   was   purchased,    when    first 
xhibited,   by  Sir  James   Knowles,  who 
secured  the  copyright  also  about  ten  years 

' "'-'ng  dissatisfied  with  the  existing 

*    nhotogravure  of  the  head 
Tmission  in  the  Life  of 


the  executors 

of 

■~' '-  r 

ricture  ^~^    - 

1  ^ 

I  ^  t 

T.   "'    1 

MILLAIS'S  PORTRAIT  OF  TENNYSON 
^  BY  D.   S.  MacCOLL  c*^ 


Y  the  death  of  Sir  James 
Knowles  a  friendly  Hnk 
with  the  art  and  letters  of 
the  nineteenth  century  has 
been   broken,  and  the  col- 

^  lection    of    works    of    art 

that  he  had  formed  has  been  dispersed. 
Among  these  was  a  relic  of  one  of  his 
friendships,  the  famous  portrait  of  Tenny- 
son. It  will  be  very  generally  felt,  on 
more  grounds  than  one,  that  this  picture 
ought,  if  possible,  to  be  secured  for  the 
nation,  and  the  National  Art-Collections 
Fund,  we  are  glad  to  learn,  has  organized 
an  effort  to  that  end.  The  Fund  was 
only  the  other  day  set  free  from  the  liabili- 
ties of  its  last  memorable  gift  ;  it  has  used 
its  recovered  liberty  to  issue  an  appeal  to 
members  and  the  public  generally  for  the 
purchase  of  the  Tennyson,  and  has  ob- 
tained from  the  executors  ot  Sir  James 
Knowles  an  offer  of  the  picture  for  a 
limited  time.  The  energy  and  good 
fortune  that  saved  the  Velazquez  in 
face  of  such  heavy  odds  ought  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  case  of  a  more  generally 
popular  picture  and  a  comparatively 
trifling  cost. 

The  portrait  belongs  to  the  maturity  of 
Millais's  later  manner.  It  was  painted  in 
March  of  1881,  a  year  of  vigorous  and 
happy  production,  when  he  was  fifty-two 
years  of  age,  and  his  subject  twenty  years 
older.  A  group  of  portraits  of  famous 
men  belongs  to  the  same  year,  including 
the  unfinished  Lord  Bcaconsfield,  Cardinal 
NflVman,  Principal  Caird  (in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Glasgow),  and  Sir  Henry  Thotnpson 
(now  in  the  National  Gallery).  The  Tenny- 
son is  a  first-rate  example  of  this  period, 
and  in  Millais's  own  judgment  was  the 
finest  portrait  he  had  painted,  and  'with- 
out immodesty,  I  am  sure  is  the  best  of 


him.''  Admirers  of  the  portraits  of  Tenny- 
son by  Watts  may  challenge  this  judgment, 
but  will  not  dispute  the  living  character  so 
absolutely  fixed  upon  Millais's  canvas.  Nor 
are  the  presence  and  dignity  of  the  poet 
wanting,  for  Tennyson  brought  these  in 
his  head  and  bearing.  The  abstract  of 
Watts  will  be  the  better  understood  by 
reference  to  a  rendering  so  closely  moulded 
upon  life,  as  is  the  case  with  portraits  by 
the  same  two  painters  of  Thomas  Carlyle, 
now  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery.  The 
philosopher  of  Watts  is  supplemented 
there  by  the  angry  Scottish  peasant-body 
out  of  whom  the  prophet  was  carved. 

The  Tennyson  was  commissioned  from 
Millais  by  the  Fine  Art  Society,  who 
published  an  engraving  after  it,  and  was 
shown  at  the  Society's  gallery  in  1881, 
when  the  first  Millais  exhibition  was 
brought  together.  It  has  since  then  been 
seen  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  (1886)  and 
in  the  memorial  exhibition  at  the  Academy 
(1898).  It  was  purchased,  when  first 
exhibited,  by  Sir  James  Knowles,  who 
secured  the  copyright  also  about  ten  years 
later,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  existing 
engraving.  A  photogravure  of  the  head 
appeared  by  his  permission  in  the  Life  of 
Millais. 

The  price  fixed  by  the  executors  of  Sir 
James  Knowles,  if  the  picture  should  be 
purchased  for  the  nation,  is  ^^3,000,  a 
moderate  sum  when  authorship  and  subject 
are  considered. 

The  picture,  indeed,  may  be  described 
as  a  national  monument,  and  would  enrich 
a  collection  that  is  poor  at  present  in 
modern  portraiture.  The  limit  of  time  is 
short — till  the  end  of  the  present  month  ; 
but     it    is    hoped     that     the    numberless 

'  See  letter  to  C.ilderon  (1892)  in  '  Life  .-incl  Letters  of  Millais  ■ 
ii,  p.143. 


The  Bl'rlington  Magazine,  Xn.  63.    Vol  Xlll-June,  n 


90S. 


I  27 


Millais*s  Tortrait  of  Tennyson 

admirers  of  poet  and  artist  will,  within 
that  time,  by  subscriptions  large  or  small, 
find   the  necessary  amount.     They  should 


address  themselves  to  the  Honorary  Secre- 
tariesof  theNational  Art-Collections  Fund, 
47  Victoria  Street,  Westminster. 


THE    EXHIBITION    OF     ILLUMINATED    MANUSCRIPTS 
THE  BURLINGTON  FINE  ARTS  CLUB 
;A^  BY  ROGER  E.   FRY  cK, 


AT 


HE  present  exhibition  will 
count,  we  believe,  as  of  un- 
usual importance,  even  among 
those  for  which  this  club  is 
known  all  over  the  world.  As 
Mr.  Sydney  Cockerell,  the 
author  of  the  catalogue,  says 
_  with  justifiable  pride,  'it  may 
confidently  'be  Asserted  that  so  many  splendid 
examples  of  the  illuminator's  art,  and  so  various  in 
their  excellence,  have  never  before  been  shown  in  a 
single  room.'  Perhaps  the  exhibition  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale  in  1905  brought  forth  as 
many  works  of  superlative  excellence,  but  they 
were  confined  to  one  school  and  covered  only  a 
Hmited  period.  Here  we  have  works  of  many 
schools  extending  from  the  ninth  to  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  work  of  collecting,  classifying 
and  cataloguing  these  270  exhibits  has  been  a 
heavy  one.  The  mere  description  of  an  illuminated 
manuscript  requires  a  great  deal  more  research 
than  is  needed  for  the  description  of  any  other 
object  of  art,  since  it  implies  a  study  of  the  essential 
characteristics  of  the  whole  book,  and  when  we 
come  to  the  deductions  as  to  the  place  of  origin 
and  early  ownership  which  it  is  possible  to  make, 
the  amount  of  research  necessitated  and  the  wide 
range  of  authorities  to  be  consulted  become 
formidable.  It  would  obviously  be  impossible  at 
this  early  stage  to  estimate  the  exact  value  for  our 
knowledge  of  mediaeval  art  of  the  work  undertaken 
by  Mr.  Cockerell  and  those  who  have  assisted  him, 
but,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  judge  from  first 
impressions,  the  catalogue  appears  to  be  extremely 
rich  in  interesting  details  which  have  been  brought 
to  light  now  for  the  first  time.  With  regard  to 
one  school  of  miniature  painting,  the  English,  it 
is  hoped  that  we  shall  be  able  to  give,  in  a  future 
article,  the  results  arrived  at ;  for  the  present  I 
shall  confine  myself  to  a  general  survey  and  to 
recording  some  of  the  impressions  made  upon  one 
by  the  vast  range  of  early  European  art  which  the 
visitor  has  here  displayed  before  him  in  a  single 
purview. 

One's  first  impression  is  of  the  extraordinary 
beauty,  the  inviting  warmth  and  richness  and  yet 
surprising  lightness  of  the  whole  effect.  It  turns 
out  that  these  vellum  leaves,  prepared,  gilded  and 
coloured  with  such  minute  precision,  in  order  to 

128 


gratify  a  closely  scrutinizing  eye,  and  aiming  only 
at  detailed  perfection — it  turns  out  that  many  of 
them  have  also  the  dignity  and  weight,  the  large 
co-ordinationof  elements  of  products  of  the  major 
arts. 

Then  one  is  struck  by  the  extraordinary  changes 
in  the  artist's  point  of  view  which  these  manuscripts 
record  in  the  passage  of  five  or  six  centuries. 

To  the  European  eye  oriental  art  sometimes 
seems  regularly  uniform,  so  that  we  can  scarcely 
see  on  a  first  acquaintance  the  difference  between 
paintings  of  say  the  eighth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 
But  what  is  really  more  surprising  is  the  divergence 
of  European  art.  In  this  exhibition  we  can  see 
that  from  1000  to  about  1400  the  methods  are 
similar  :  thereare  variation, progress  and  declineand 
revival,  and  there  are  racial  and  local  dialects,  but 
the  language  is  the  same.  Jean  Pucelle  (No  130) 
in  1340  uses,  it  is  true,  a  different  symbol  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  artist  of  the  Benedictional  of  St. 
^•Ethelwold  (No.  10),  who  worked  about  970,  but 
the  difference  is  only  such  as  corresponds  to  a 
different  attitude  to  life — the  two  artists  are  near 
enough  in  the  relation  of  their  painted  images  to 
actual  appearances.  They  are  infinitely  nearer  to 
one  another  than  either  is  to  Fouquet,  only  a  hun- 
dred years  later  than  Pucelle,  or  still  more  to  Simon 
Benning,  less  than  a  couple  of  centuries  away.  This 
difference  is  immense  and  its  effects  incalculable  ; 
it  implies  a  total  change  in  the  language  of  art,  the 
change  from  the  expressive  symbol  to  the  complete 
realization  of  actual  appearances.  Whatever 
triumphs  this  change  implied  for  other  arts — for 
painting  in  oils  or  for  sculpture — one  cannot  look 
round  the  walls  of  the  exhibition  without  feeling 
that  it  spelt  ruin  for  the  illustrator's  art.  That 
subtle  balance  between  the  different  elements  of 
his  design,  between  the  purely  decorative  and  the 
expressive, was  destroyed;  and  while  he  could  pro- 
duce more  and  more  wonderful  pictures,  could 
recall  to  the  devout  possessor  of  his  breviaries 
with  more  and  more  verisimilitude  all  the  incidents 
of  actual  life,  he  lost  the  power  of  direct  symbolical 
appeal  and  of  noble  decoration.  To  be  quite 
frank,  the  purely  decorative  work,  the  borders  and 
riufcanx  of  nearly  all  the  manuscripts  after  1400, 
are  almost  entirely  devoid  of  serious  artistic  merit. 
Some  of  the  Flemish  ones  of  the  sixteenth  century 
are  as  bad    in  taste,  as  deliberately  vulgar  and  as 


Exhibition  of  Illuminated  Manuscripts 


idly  pretentious  as  anything  the  mid-Victorian 
epoch  discovered  in  its  antimacassars  and  Berlin 
woolwork.  The  pictures  within  these  chromo- 
lithographic  borders  often  show  consummate  skill, 
but  almost  always  of  a  purely  mechanical  kind,  and 
their  appeal  is  to  a  childish  love  of  mere  bright- 
ness of  colour  and  minuteness  of  delineation. 
This  need  not  imply  the  condemnation  of  a  whole 
epoch  ;  it  merely  means  that  for  certain  epochs, 
the  centre  of  artistic  endeavour,  the  intenser 
artistic  life,  had  shifted  to  other  arts,  and  left  illu- 
mination to  commercial  craftsmen.  The  illumina- 
tor's art  had,  as  we  see  here,  varying  adventures, 
varying  fortunes,  in  different  countries  and 
ages.  The  Winchester  Vulgate  (No.  io6)  shows 
us  English  illuminators  of  the  twelfth  century 
doing  work  which  has  never  been  surpassed  in  any 
age  and  which  was  unequalled  elsewhere,  yet  at 
that  time  the  English  were  decidedly  inferior  to 
the  French  both  in  architecture  and  sculpture. 
Then  later  on,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  we  find 
the  French  illuminators  working  in  the  spirit  of 
great  independent  and  original  artists  with  an 
intellectual  ardour,  a  dignity^uid  logical  perfection 
of  taste  which  are  beyond  praise,  while  in  Italy  the 
illuminator  remains  throughout  a  minor  artist 
imitating  afar  the  great  works  of  the  fresco  painter 
and  never  originating  for  himself  principles  of 
design  and  handling  proper  to  his  art. 

Finally  with  the  late  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries  it  is  clear  that  the  fruitful  intellects  have 
deserted  illumination  in  favour  of  the  arts  connected 
with  printing,  and  the  illuminated  prayer-book 
is  a  commercial  product  got  up  for  the  delight  of 
the  vulgar  rich  with  that  peculiar  shop-finish  which 
under  such  circumstances  is  always  called  in  to  do 
duty  for  art. 

The  illuminator's  art  is  one  in  which  colour  is  of 
supreme  importance,  and  yet,  working  with  what 
answers  to  our  gouache,  the  artist  was  confronted 
with  the  difficulty  of  its  tendency  to  coldness  and 
opacity.  Looking  round  the  room  we  can  almost 
estimate  the  relative  general  excellence  of  the  art 
of  various  periods  by  the  success  with  which  they 
have  avoided  this  error.  Above  all,  the  case  devoted 
to  French  thirteenth-century  MSS.  amazes  one  by 
the  sober  intensity  and  solidity  of  its  colour,  its 
subdued  and  vibrating  splendour. 

The  history  of  the  illuminator's  colour  schemes 
as  revealed  here  is  full  of  interest.  In  the  earliest 
work,  such  as  St.  ^thelwold's  Benedictional 
(No.  ii)  or  the  Latin  Gospels  (12),  the  colouring 
is  subtle  and  refined ;  the  harmonies  are  strange 
— dull  puce,  dull  blue  greens  of  various  shades  pre- 
dominate. It  is  as  far  removed  from  anything 
primitive  or  barbaric  as  can  be  imagined,  and  like 
the  style  of  drawing  must  be  considered  as  a  diiect 
inheritance  from  the  last  refinements  of  classical 
civilization.      Already     in     the    Miracles   of    St. 


Edmund,  No.  18,  another  idea  of  colour  has  arisen. 
This  is  the  essentially  childish  one  of  mere  delight 
in  sensation  of  bright  primaries,  so  the  artist  puts 
together  pure  blues,  reds  and  greens  without  any 
preconceived  notion  of  harmony.  This  primitive 
barbaric  feeling  is  expressed  also  in  the  extravagant 
and  as  yet  somewhat  absurd  dramatic  intensity. 
All  through  the  early  period  we  can  trace  the 
conflict  of  these  two  forces,  the  old  traditional 
classicism  and  the  new  barbaric  love  of  strong 
colour  and  life.  Already  in  the  great  Winchester 
Vulgate  (106)  a  fusion  has  been  effected,  and  we 
get  intense  colour  controlled  by  a  great  synthetic 
idea,  drawing  full  of  dramatic  force  but  controlled 
by  a  noble  sentiment  for  style,  so  that  one  may 
wonder  whether  in  the  perfect  adaptation  of  all 
the  means  to  the  end  of  great  imaginative  book 
decoration  this  effort  has  ever  been  surpassed. 
Then  with  the  thirteenth  century  the  refining 
influences  prevail.  The  colours  are  gradually 
reduced,  blues  of  various  shades  predominate  : 
these  are  broken  with  an  incredible  subtlety  of 
method  so  as  to  avoid  coldness,  and  married  with 
the  gold  by  almost  invisible  notes  of  degraded  reds 
and  greens.  Here  we  find,  indeed,  that  consum- 
mate science  of  pure  colour  which  created  the 
stained  glass  decorations  of  Chartres  Cathedral, 
and  we  find  the  effects  arrived  at  by  identical 
methods,  the  subtlety  and  perfection  of  which 
almost  defy  analysis. 

With  the  fourteenth  century  there  intervened  a 
desire  for  greater  gaiety,  more  blondness,  for  a  less 
austere  splendour.  This  is  seen  to  perfection  in 
the  St.  Omer  Psalter  (68)  and  the  Psalter  of 
Humphrey  de  Bohun  (73),  but  it  implies  generally 
a  relaxation  of  the  purely  artistic  sense  of  colour 
harmony — a  return,  as  in  No.  153,  to  mere  bright- 
ness and  intensity  of  colour.  In  two  very  beauti- 
ful manuscripts  of  the  early  fifteenth  century  (204 
and  205),  however,  some  quite  original  and  as  yet 
unknown  artist  has  carried  the  ideas  of  blondness 
and  delicate  gaiety  of  colour  to  their  utmost  point 
of  refinement,  and  created  works  of  rare  and 
strange  beauty  in  which  for  the  first  and,  I  believe, 
only  time  the  slight  contrast  of  white  upon  the 
toned  warmth  of  the  vellum  is  used  throughout  as 
the  key  to  the  colour  scheme.  But  in  the  main, 
in  spite  of  the  Limbourgs  and  Fouquets,  the  fif- 
teenth century  shows  only  a  steady  loss  of  the 
artistic  control  of  colour,  and  now  for  the  first  time 
in  Bourdichon  and  the  contemporary  Italians  the 
old  red  lead  and  vermilion  tints  give  place  to  an 
excruciating  crimson  lake,  against  which  the 
golds,  greens  and  violet  produce  their  utmost 
effect  of  discordant  vehemence.  We  return 
once  more  in  the  sixteenth  century  to  a  purely 
barbaric  conception  of  colour  ;  but  the  barbarism 
is,  alas  !  no  longer  naive— it  is  sophisticated  and 
corrupt. 


129 


THE   NEW  ITALIAN  LAW   'PER  LE  ANTICHITA 

E  LE  BELLE  ARTI' 


^  BY  LIONEL  CUST 

'N  March  17th,  1908,  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction 
in  Italy,  acting  with  the  Minister 
I  of  the  Treasury,  laid  before  the 
'  Senate  a  project  for  the  new 
law  concerning  antiquities  and 
)the  fine  arts,  which  had 
I  already  been  passed  by  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  In  view  of  the  difficulties  of 
explaining  and  enforcing  the  laws  which  previously 
existed,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment, which  has  lately  shown  a  most  praiseworthy 
interest  in  the  preservation  of  the  treasures, 
historical,  archaeological  and  artistic,  the  bcllczza 
artisfica,  which  form  so  large  an  asset  in  the  pros- 
perity of  their  country,  should  seek  to  co-ordinate 
all  existing  laws  into  one  law  which  shall  be 
applicable  to  the  whole  of  Italy,  and  not  applied 
in  different  ways  and  in  different  circumstances  as 
local  feeling  and  local  interest  seem  to  demand. 

The  law  is  now  before  us,  and  cannot  be  said  to 
fall  short  in  any  way  of  comprehensiveness,  of 
drastic  intentions,  and,  it  may  also  be  said,  of 
lucidity. 

Article  i  states  that  all  things  immovable  and 
movable,  which  have  historical,  archaeological  and 
artistic  interest,  are  subject  to  the  new  law,  with 
the  exception  of  buildings  and  objects  of  art 
executed  by  living  artists  or  not  more  than 
fifty  years  previously.  Immovable  objects  include 
gardens,  forests,  landscapes,  waters,  and  all  places 
and  objects  in  nature  which  have  interest  as 
stated  above.  Movable  objects  include  manu- 
scripts, incunabula,  early  engravings  and  printed 
matter,  and  numismatic  collections. 

Article  2  states  that  all  objects  under  Article  i 
are  inalienable,  when  they  belong  to  the  State,  to 
communes  or  provinces,  to  manufactories,  to 
confraternities  and  religious  bodies  of  every  per- 
suasion. They  may,  however,  be  transferred  from 
one  of  these  bodies  to  another  under  certain 
conditions. 

Article  3  provides  for  a  statement  by  the  head 
official  of  every  body  under  Article  2,  including 
parish  priests,  of  the  objects  which  come  under 
Article  i. 

Article  4  empowers  the  Ministry  of  Public 
Instruction  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  such  objects 
by  removal  or  restoration. 

Article  5  lays  down  that  no  owner  of  an  object 
under  Article  i  which  has  been  noted  by  the 
public  authority  can  transfer  or  part  with  that 
property  without  informing  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction. 

Article  6  gives  the  government  the  right  of 
acquiring  any  such  object  under  Article  5  at  the 
same  price  as  may  have  been  already  agreed  upon 
by  contract  within  three  months  from  the  receipt  of 


,   M.V.O.,  F.S.A.   rj^ 

information,  or  within  six  months  if  the  government 
is  not  in  a  position  to  consider  the  immediate  acqui- 
sition. During  these  periods  the  object  in  question 
cannot  be  disposed  of. 

Article  7  empowers  the  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction to  take  forcible  possession  of  any  object 
under  Article  i  which  is  in  need  of  care  or  in 
dangerof  perishingshould  the  necessary  work  not  be 
carried  out  by  the  proprietor  within  a  given  time. 
Article  8  forbids  the  exportation  from  the  king- 
dom of  any  object  of  historical,  archaeological  or 
artistic  interest  the  loss  of  which  would  be  of 
importance  to  the  nation.  Any  object  under  Article  i 
which  it  may  be  wished  to  export  must  be  submitted 
to  a  board  of  three  officials  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose with  an  appeal  to  the  Superior  Council  of  Fine 
Arts. 

Article  9  provides  for  the  price  to  be  paid  by  the 
government  for  the  acquisition  of  objects  other- 
wise intended  for  exportation,  and  gives  the 
government  power  to  return  the  object  to  the 
proprietor  and  forbid  him  to  export  it. 

Article  10  imposes  a  tax  on  the  exportation  of 
any  object  under  Article  i,  but  Article  11  relieves 
from  this  tax  any  object  imported  from  foreign 
countries  within  a  period  of  five  years,  which 
period  may  be  increased  by  additional  periods  of 
five  years  at  the  wish  and  on  the  application  of  the 
parties  concerned. 

Articles  12  and  13  provide  against  any  change, 
modification  or  restoration  of  objects  under 
Articles  i  and  2  without  the  authority  of  the 
Minister  of  Public  Instruction. 

Article  14  extends  this  restriction  to  plans  for 
new  buildings  and  other  works  which  may  damage 
natural  objects  or  other  monuments  under 
Article  2. 

Articles  15-19  contain  the  regulations  for  exca- 
vations and  for  the  ownership  of  the  objects 
thereby  revealed.  Generally  speaking,  the  govern- 
ment assumes  the  right  to  control  all  excavations 
for  archaeological  purposes,  and  the  proprietorship 
of  all  objects  discovered  in  such  excavations.  The 
proprietor  of  the  site  is  to  be  compensated  either 
in  money  or  by  a  share  in  the  objects  discovered  ; 
but  the  government  has  the  right  to  appropriate 
the  property  altogether  and  award  suitable  com- 
pensation. Societies  and  private  people  can  obtain 
a  licence  to  excavate  under  the  supervision  of  the 
government,  and  may  receive  half  the  objects  dis- 
covered or  their  value  in  money,  according  to  the 
choice  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  Any 
chance  discovery  of  antiquities  or  other  monuments 
in  need  of  excavation  has  to  be  reported  to  the  said 
minister,  who  must  decide  within  thirty  days  how 
to  act  in  the  matter.  A  foreigner  or  foreign  societies 
can  obtain  a  licence  to  excavate  under  similar 
conditions,  but  the  objects  awarded  to  them  cannot 


130 


The  Neva  Italian  Layo 


be  exported  from  Italy,  even  under  the  conditions 
allowed  by  Article  8. 

Article  20  includes  in  the  law  objects  of  palaeon- 
tology. 

Article  21  regulates  the  photographing  and 
publication  of  photographs  of  objects  belonging 
to  the  State  imder  Article  i. 

Article  22  regulates  the  use  of  the  sums  arising 
from  the  admission  fees  to  the  museums  and 
galleries  belonging  to  the  State. 

Articles  23-28  provide  funds  for  the  acquisition 
of  objects  which  come  under  the  law. 

Articles  29-36  state  the  pains  and  penalties  for 
evasion  of  this  law. 

Article  37  enables  any  citizen,  enjoying  full 
civil  rights,  or  any  body  of  people,  legally  recog- 
nized as  such,  to  take  action  against  transgressors 
of  this  law. 

Article  41  fixes  the  taxes  on  exportation  of  works 
of   art   at 

5  p.c.  on   the   first     5000    francs. 
7  p.c.  on  the  second     „  ,, 

9  p.c.  on  the  third       ,,  „ 

II  p.c.  on  the  fourth     „  „ 

increasing  up  to  a  final  tax  of  20  p.c.  according  to 
the  value  of  the  pictures. 

The  above  is  a  very  inadequate  rcstmic  of  this 
important  law,  which  embodies  the  law  of  June, 
1902,  formerly  in  force,  and  the  law  of  June,  1907, 
which  regulated  the  administration  of  the  museums 
and  salleries  of  ancient,  mediaeval  and  modern 
art  throughout  Italy.  A  comparison  of  the  new 
law  with  that  of  1902  shows  some  interesting 
divergences.  Notable  at  first  is  the  inclusion  under 
the  law  of  places  of  natural  beauty  and  interest, 
other  than  buildings,  such  as  landscapes,  gardens, 
waterfalls  and  trees.  It  is  very  satisfactory  to 
learn  from  the  speech  of  Senatore  Rava,  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction,  how  much  influence  has 
been  exercised  by  examples  from  our  own  country 
in  The  National  Trust  for  the  Preservation  of 
Places  of  Historic  Interest,  The  National  Society 
for  Checking  the  Abuses  of  Advertising,  and  the 
Act  for  the  Protection  of  Ancient  Monuments. 
With  this  attempt  to  preserve  the  beauties  of  Italy 
untouched  by  the  hand  of  the  destroyer  or  the 
botcher  all  lovers  of  Italy  and  the  arts  must  sym- 
pathize. The  proposed  inventory  of  works  of  art, 
intended  to  be  not  merely  a  list  but  a  catalogue 
raisoniic,  has  been  under  discussion  for  some  time. 
So  much  care  seems  to  have  been  taken  in  drawing 
up  this  law  with  a  view  of  giving  a  iiiiiiimiim  of 
annoyance  to  private  individuals  or  societies,  while 
insisting  on  the  execution  of  the  law,  that  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  with  reference  to  property  owned  by  the 
Church  the  French  model  will  not  be  followed, 
and  that  there  will  arise  no  excuse  for  the  pain- 
ful scenes  which  have  shocked  so  many  friends 
of  France.  The  new  law  is  careful  to  treat  tiie 
Church  in  no  way  differenUy  from  the  State  or 


other  public  bodies.  Here  the  human  element  must 
intervene  sometimes,  and  unfortunately  the  rela- 
tions between  Church  and  State  in  Italy  are  not 
everywhere  of  the  best.  Good  work  has  been  done 
in  Germany,  Belgium  and  elsewhere  in  this  line. 
The  new  law  in  Italy  trends  towards  conserva- 
tion, not  confiscation,  and  should  be  interpreted 
accordingly. 

The  laws  about  excavation  and  archaeological 
research  have  been  amended  with  greater,  if  not 
excessive,  consideration  for  the  claims  of  foreign 
archaeologists.  The  foreign  schools  at  Rome 
would  be  the  first  to  recognize  that  the  soil  of  Italy 
belongs  to  the  Italian  nation.  The  history  of 
ancient  Rome,  as  of  ancient  Greece,  is,  however, 
the  property  of  the  human  race,  and  to  deny  to  an 
archaeologist,  because  he  may  not  be  an  Italian 
subject,  a  share  in  the  revelation  and  interpretation 
of  this  history  would  be  an  act  of  exclusion  which 
could  only  damage  Italy  itself.  Great  Britain  is 
no  longer  a  predatory  country,  even  if  it  were  ever 
truly  liable  to  this  charge.  Now  that  Italy  has 
aroused  itself  to  protect  and  maintain  its  own 
treasures,  it  is  far  better  for  students  and  historians 
that  the  remains  of  ancient  Rome  should  remain 
in  Rome  itself.  The  baths  of  Diocletian  never 
served  a  better  purpose  than  they  do  at  the  present 
day  as  a  museum  of  ancient  sculpture.  Here  in 
the  Museo  delle  Terme,  and  elsewhere  in  the 
Forum,  on  the  Palatine,  and  wherever  the  exi- 
gencies of  a  busy  city  permit,  the  chaos  of  antique 
rubbish  is  being  sifted  and  classified  into  shape 
under  the  competent  direction  of  such  leaders  as 
Commendatore  Boni  and  Commendatore  Corrado 
Ricci.  By  a  sympathetic  system  of  exchange 
between  museums  in  different  countries  fragments 
could  be  reunited  to  fragments,  until  something 
like  a  whole  might  be  reconstituted,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  '  Ara  Pacis  '  of  Augustus.  It  is  useless  to  talk 
of  restoring  the  Parthenon  or  the  Colosseum,  but 
monuments  which  can  and  should  be  preserved 
in  museums  are  in  some  such  cases  capable  of  re- 
construction. Already  schemes  are  afloat  for  inves- 
tigating the  site  of  Herculaneum,  and  the  scheme, 
advocated  so  warmly  by  Professor  Waldstein,  may 
still  bear  fruit  of  some  sort. 

In  considering  this  new  law  in  Italy,  it  is  worth 
while  to  inquire  in  what  way  such  a  law  could  be 
adapted  for  use  in  our  own  country.  If  the  law 
seem  to  our  minds  somewhat  rigid  and  exclusive, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  circumstances  in 
the  two  countries  are  very  different.  Italy  has 
been  despoiled  by  the  foreigner  for  centuries ; 
England  is  only  beginning  to  share  this  fate,  and 
is  hardly  conscious  even  now  of  the  injury  which 
is  being  inflicted  upon  it.  Italy  has  need  to  defend 
itself,  and  so  lias  England.  The  attempts  to 
preserve  ancient  monuments  and  natural  scenery, 
although  quoted  with  approval  as  an  authority 
by   the   Italian  statesmen,  have  been  grudgingly 


131 


The  New  Italian  LaVi> 


recognized  by  the  government  of  Great  Britain. 
Tiie  destruction  of  monuments,  the  ruin  and  dis- 
figurement of  natural  scenery,  the  exportation 
of  valuable  works  of  art,  go  on  unchecked  year  by 
year,  neglected  deliberately  by  governments  of  all 
parties,  or  relegated  to  the  unimportant  duties  of 
some  already  overburdened  office  of  the  State. 

If  Italy  has  the  courage  and  the  common  sense 
to  raise  a  revenue  for  the  preservation  of  her  art 
treasures  by  taxing  those  objects,  the  loss  of  which 
Italy  cannot  prevent,  why  should  England  not 
follow  this  example  ?  The  property  which  would 
come  under  the  tax  is  mainly  shared  by  plutocrat 
owners  with  plutocrat  dealers,  by  whom  the  tax 
would  scarcely  be  felt. 

The  drawback  to  the  new  Italian  law  and  that  of 
June,  1907,  is  the  multiplication  of  the  petty  official 
in  the  service  of  the  State.  Many  of  the  troubles  and 
irregularities  of  petty  official  life  are  due  to  the  in- 
adequate remuneration  of  such  officials  from  the 
public  purse.  If  Italy  wishes  to  preserve  its  art 
treasures,  it  should  see  that  the  appointed 
guardians  are  properly  rewarded  for  the  trusts 
placed  in  their  hands.  To  take  the  inventories 
alone  will  require  the  services  of  a  squadron  of 
officials  who  possess  the  requisite  knowledge  and 
perception,  who  are  tactful  and  sympathetic,  and 


who,  above  all,  can  be  relied  upon  for  their  honesty 
and  integrity.  One  of  the  pleasing  signs  of  Italian 
prosperity  is  the  improvement  in  the  personnel 
attached  to  the  principal  museums  and  galleries, 
with  a  corresponding  improvement  in  the  work 
done  within  those  institutions.  The  supply  is 
probably  limited,  though  by  bringing  the  local 
museums  under  the  control  of  the  State  the 
Italian  Government  is  able  to  offer  to  the  younger 
members  of  its  staff  a  better  chance  of  progressing 
in  learning  and  knowledge  than  that  offered  in 
this  country,  where  a  young  man  is  tied  to  the 
same  post,  say  in  the  British  Museum,  for  the  full 
term  of  his  Civil  Service  existence,  and  has  little  or 
no  opportunity  for  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
contents  of  other  museums  or  galleries  in  his  own 
country  or  abroad,  and  of  thus  fitting  himself  by 
degrees  for  more  important  duties  of  administra- 
tion in   after  life. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  there  is  much  to 
learn  from  this  new  law  in  Italy.  The  success  of  the 
law  itself  will  depend  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it 
is  worked.  If  a  spirit  of  good  feeling  be  adopted 
towards  the  foreigner,  and  if  the  rewards  go  to  the 
honest  and  successful  worker,  and  not  to  the  skilled 
wire-puller,  the  new  law  may  be  of  lasting  benefit 
to  Italy. 


THE  SNAKE  PATTERN  IN  IRELAND,  THE  MEDITERRANEAN 

AND  CHINA 
cA^  BY  CHRISTIANA  J.   HERRINGHAM  c^ 


HE  following  short  contri- 
bution to  the  analysis  and 
synthesis  of  decorative  art  is 
only  suggestive  of  a  line  of 
inquiry  which  is  nearly  un- 
touched. It  is  based  on 
materials  which  have  been 
easily  accessible  to  me.  My 
interest  in  the  question  arose  from  my  liking  for 
two  groups  or  developments  of  what  is  called 
applied  art  which  I  studied  separately,  not  in  the 
first  instance  having  any  suspicion  that  they  were 
even  remotely  connected  with  each  other.  These 
two  groups  are  Irish  MS.  illumination  and  metal- 
work  which,  roughly  speaking,  fall  between  400 
and  iioo  A.D.,  not  excluding  other  'Celtic 'art, 
and  early  hieratic  Chinese  art  as  known  to  us — 
almost  solely  in  bronze  vessels  and  vases  of  various 
early  dates — a  few  known  and  many  hypothetical. 
Irish  art  possesses  characteristics  which,  I  should 
say,  quite  definitely  distinguish  it,  taken  as  a 
whole,  from  all  other  art  developments,  though 
there  are  individual  objects  which  might  be 
thought  to  h.ave  a  more  eastern,  northern,  or 
southern  origin.  It  has  especially  the  quality  of 
a  sort  of  tenuity,  or  even  of  attenuation,  coupled 


with  an  unusual  quality  of  life,  energy  and  shape — 
variability — just  what  we  find  in  the  art  of  the  Far 
East,  and  quite  another  thing  from  the  dainty 
graciousness  and  sweet  or  gay  colouring  of 
mediaeval  illumination  proper.  If  in  motives  it 
does  not  boast  Cleopatra's  infinite  variety,  this  is 
atoned  for  by  an  endless  rearrangement  and  multi- 
plication of  parts  within  an  enclosing  framework 
of  bold  and  simple  design  which  allows  the  mind 
and  eye  to  survey  the  complexity  and  receive 
impressions  of  infinity  without  too  much  be- 
wilderment. 

The  essential  patterns  or  motives  from  which 
this  richness  has  been  evolved  are  not  very  many, 
and  most  of  them  may  be  traced  back  ultimately 
to  the  original  common  stock  which  we  usually 
now  call  Mycenaean.  Any  few  that  still  remain 
unfathered  can  be  found  in  what  we  generally  call 
Eastern  art,  or  in  the  art  of  the  still  further  east  of 
the  far  side  of  Asia. 

It  is  not  new  to  link  Celtic  spirals  with  the 
spiral  period  of  Mycenaean  art,  taking  this  term 
to  mean  the  primitive  pre-Hellenic  art  surround- 
ing the  east  end  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  climax 
of  this  '  culture '  is  usually  placed  at  about  1200  B.C., 
with  a  much  earlier  commencement,  and  no  term 


132 


can  be  put  at  the  otlier  end,  for  the  lotus  and 
spirals  may  be  moribund,  but  they  are  not  dead. 
I  believe  that  the  facile  desij^n  of  Algerian  copper 
and  brass  workers — elaborate  patterns  of  geomet- 
rical strap-work,  filled  with  complex  tracery  of  a 
sort  of  wreathing  stalk  with  tiny  leaves — is  'lotus' 
in  origin,  and  not  so  very  far  removed  from  that 
of  the  pages  of  the  Books  of  Kells,  Lindisfarne, 
or  Durrow. 

Mr.  George  Coffey  drew  attention  to  the  kinship 
of  Irish  and  Mycenaean  spirals  in  Vols,  iv  and  v 
of  the  '  Journal  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Antiquaries 
of  Ireland,'  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  per- 
ceived the  other  numerous  links,  which  I  had  al- 
ready found  before  I  noticed  the  identity  of  the 
spirals.  Mr.  Romilly  Allen  finds  a  certain  cousin- 
ship  with  Byzantine  art,  and  the  affinities  of  Celtic 
art  are  not  at  all  fully  traced  even  in  the  big  group 
of  works  by  Oscar  Monlelius  on  Scandinavian, 
Eastern  and  primitive  Italian  archaeology.  The 
Byzantine  resemblances  are  very  far  from  being 
the  closest  that  can  be  found.  Worsaae  has 
written  a  good  deal  on  the  eastern  sun  symbolism 
which  penetrated  into  Europe  in  the  Viking  Age. 

The  following  illustrations  give  a  notion  of  the 
likeness  between  Irish  spirals  in  MSS.  and 
Mycenaean  spirals  on  vases — that  is  to  say, 
some  pages  of  Irish  illuminated  books  are, 
barring  the  exaggerated  feeling  for  com- 
plexity and  repetition  and  attenuation, 
practically  Mycenaean  work.  Canterbury 
MSS.  of  about  the  same  or  a  somewhat  later 
period  serve   to  show  what    Romanesque 


The  Sna/^  Pattern 

(c.  700  A.D.)  in  the  British  Museum.  V\g.  2  is 
surely  a  near  relative  of  its  central  motive  from  a 
[apanese  colour  print  (J~-t  in  the  art  library  at 
South  Kensington.  This  is  also  the  Korean  national 


^^^s-^g^^ 


emblem.     Fig.  3  is  another  Irish  bit  much  en- 
larged, which  may  be  compared  with  fig.  4,  taken 


work   was.      They 
acanthus  patterns  w 
Celtic  work. 

Fig.  I,  which  in 
over  an  inch  m  leng 
of    Irish  penmanshi 
colour  added  in  the 
and  brown  ink  and 
the    Matthew   page 


have,   for   instance,    decadent 
hich  are  entirely  absent  from 

the  original  measures  barely 
th,  is  a  "thoroughly  typical  bit 
p  (having,  of  course,  a  little 
original,  which  is  delicate  pen 
not  coarse  line  block  !)  from 
cf    the   Lindisfarne  Gospels 


from  a  Rhodian  vase,  and  fig.  5,  from  a  vase  of 
Thera.  Compare  also  6a  and  6r3,  rudimentary 
lotus  with  spiral  scrolls  (the  latter  a  scarab,  in 
Leyden);  7A,  Egyptian  tomb  spiral ;  8,  Melian  spiral 
scroll,  which  seem  to  account  for  the  little  pointed 
leaflets  in  the  Irish  work  (these  are  taken  from 
Goodyear's  'Grammar  of  the  Lotus.')  Compare 
also  fig.  9,  taken  from  a  shield  in  the  Plate  of 
Combat  of  Hector  and  Menelaos  (British  Museum, 
Greek  vases,  seventh  century  B.C.)  with  No.  i,  and 
with  No.  10,  taken  from  the  Book  of  Kells. 

Fig.  7A,  together  with  7B  and  7c,  from  Cypriote 


The  Snake  Tattern 


vases  in  tlic  British  Museum,  seems  to  indicate  a 
possible  mode  of  development  for  so-called  Irish 
trumpet  patterns. 

In  the  outburst  of  art  in  Ireland  under  the 
impulse  which  seems  to  have  been  given  by 
Christianity  we  are  reminded  of  the  composite 
character  of  Phoenician  art.  The  crafts- 
man possessed  certain  decorative  items 
as  his  stock-in-trade,  one  might  almost 
say  picked  up  where  he  could  get  them, 
migratory  art  travelling  with  such  trad- 
ing and  religious  wanderers  as  managed 
to  reach  the  far  away  island.  It  is  like 
patchwork  or  like  country  folks'  talk  in 
proverb  and  wise  saws.  The  general 
feeling  is  of  a  later  loitering  of  the  early 
spiral  motives  of  the  Eastern  Mediterra- 
nean, especially  of  some  of  the  islands, 
than  can  be  found  anywhere  else  in 
Europe,  together  with  a  new  arrival  of 
Arab,  or  Saracenic  or  Moorish  influence, 
but  whether  direct  from  Spain  or  via 
Byzantium  I  am  not  competent  to  con- 
jecture. And  that,  of  course,  was  only 
another  stream  from  the  same  fountain 
head.  The  Chinese  feeling  in  Irish 
work  is  quite  likely  to  have  been  caused 
by  both  arts  having  been  affected  by  that  of 
Mycenae,  though  the  numerous  porcelain  seals — 
of  a  sort  quite  unknown  now,  having  a  script 
which  could  go  back  to  even  before  600  B.C. 
and  has,  I  understand,  been  in  use  ever  since 
for  seals — make  it  seem  just  possible  that 
Chinese  trade  reached  Ireland  at  some  remote 
period.^  There  is  a  bronze  bell  in  the  British 
Museum  which  has  a  distinctly  Chinese  look, 
both  in  patina  and  form.  And  it  seems  con- 
ceivable that  some  motives  of  design  came 
from  Asiatic  textiles.  But  this  is  a  rather  wild 
assumption,  and  a  Mediterranean,  Arab  or 
Coptic  origin  seems  more  reasonable  to  account 
for  anything  that  is  not  Scandinavian.  If 
Ireland  traded  with  South  France  and  Spain 
independently  of  Britain — in  support  of  which 
hypothesis  Mr.  G.  Coffey  adduces  some  distinctly 
valid  evidence — the  differentiation  of  her  art  is 
intelligible.  He  alludes  to  the  frequent  references 
to  Spain  in  the  ancient  literature  of  Ireland,  the 
mention  in  the  '  Tract  on  the  Fair  of  Carman  '  of 
a  market  of  the  foreign  Greeks,  and  to  a  passage 
in  the  '  Agricola '  of  Tacitus  where,  speaking  of 
Ireland,  he  says:  'The  soil  and  chmate,  the 
character  and  manner  of  the  inhabitants  are  not 
much  different  from  Britain  :  in  a  higher  degree 
the  approaches  and  harbours  are  known  by  com- 
merce and  merchants.' 

There  is  no  naturalism  in  Irish  art :  it  is  stylistic 
and  diagrammatic.  The  origin  of  the  patterns 
being   unknown,  the   forms   are  frequently   mis- 

'  I  am  indebted  for  this  opinion  to  Professor  H.  A.  Giles. 


understood.  The  repertory  of  the  artist  consisted 
of  interlacings  of  lines  or  bands,  various  rectan- 
gular and  diagonal  key  patterns,  bird  patterns 
derived  from  peacocks  or  geese,  animal  terminals, 
animal  patterns,  spirals,  swastika  and  other  sym- 
bols, mosaic  patterns  and  archivolt  and   pilaster 


arrangements.  Related  types  can  be  found  for 
all  these  items  in  the  art  of  other  countries ;  but 
the  zoomorphs  offer  scope  for  a  more  definite 
investigation  than  the  geometric  patterns,  though 
these  are  not  really  vague  or  uninteresting. 

There  is  a  sort  of  Midgard  serpent  page  in  the 
Book  of  Durrow  (eighth  century)  covered  with 
attenuated  creatures  biting  their  own  tails  (fig.  11). 
They  make  a  pattern  very  much  like  the  patterns 
which  the  Japanese  evolve  from  the  frequent 
repetition  of  an  identical  bird  or  animal.  From 
Ulltuna,  central  Sweden,  on  an  iron  umbo  (boss 
of  shield),  partly  covered  with  bronze  plates,  we 
get  fig.  1 2,  of  the  date  probably  of  about  700  or 
800  A.D. 

Fig.  13  is  taken  from  an  ancient  Chinese  bronze 
vase,  which,  judging  by  analogy  of  design  and 
metal  and  patina,  should  belong  to  the  Han  period 
of  Chinese  art,  about  200  B.C.  to  200  A.D. 

Fig.  14  is  taken  from  a  bronze  in  my  possession, 
which  I  bought  with  other  bronzes  as  ancient 
Chinese  ;  but  it  is  more  recent  than  13.  F"ig.  18 
shows  the  vase  in  outline,  and  fig.  19  the  design 
of  the  lid.  Fig.  14  has  curious  resemblances  to 
fig  15,  which  is  seemingly  a  lotus  design  (from 
Knossos),  and  it  does  not  seem  very  far  removed 
from  fig.  16,  a  rune  stone  of  the  Vikings,  this 
example  being  from  Ska-ring,  Soderland,  Sweden 
(a  bit  of  the  bodv  is  left  out,  being  too  long  in  the 
oval).  If  this  snake  were  biting  his  tail  the  Durrow 
book  pattern  would  be  accounted  for.  It  is  true 
the  creatures  of  fig.  11  have  legs  of  a  sort  and  tails, 
those  thin  winding  lines  which  seem  to  tie  them 


134 


The  Snake  Pattern 


together,  hut,  although  Mr.  Romilly  Allen  says  all 
'morphs'  have  their  remote  origin  in  the  lion,  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  in  this  particular  case 


the  Irish  artist  had  no  actual  knowledge  of  serpents 
or  of  any  creature  without  legs,  so  he  added  them 
to  the  pattern  which  had  come  into  his  stock, 
somehow,  from  beyond  the  seas.  The  Book  of 
Kells  (eighth  century)  has  snaky  '  morphs  '  inter- 
woven on  a  waving  pattern  not  in  rings.  I  was  a 
little  diffident  about  my  explanation,  though  I  could 
recall  no  real  snakes  in  Irish  art,  so  I  asked  Dr. 
Norman  Moore  if  he  knew  of  any  and  received 
the  following  answer.  The  bell  shrine  snake  he 
mentions  has  also  a  leg. 

'  Natrix,  a  serpent,  is  in  Irish  Nathair  (in  older 
Irish  written  Nathir). 

'  The  word  occurs  in  the  famous  manuscript  of 
Priscian,  the  grammarian,  at  St.  Gall.  The 
manuscript  is  full  of  glosses,  and  the  Latin  word 
natrix  is  glossed  (f.  69A)  "  ind  nathir  sin  " — that 
serpent.  The  manuscript  is  not  later  than  the 
ninth  century. 

'St.  Broccan  lived  in  the  seventh  century,  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  authenticity  of  his 
hymn  in  praise  of  St.  Brigit,  though  the  MS. 
belongs  to  the  eleventh  century. 

'  In  the  third  stanza  of  his  hymn  the  third  line 
is  "  ni  bu  naithir  bemnech  brecc  " — she  was  not  a 
serpent,  blow-giving,  speckled. 

'  In  a  manuscript  at  Turin  (where  I  saw  it  before 
the  fire),  the  glosses  of  which  have  been  printed, 
occurs  the  note  : — 

'  ind  naithir  humaithe  thai. 
'  the  serpent     brazen    there. 

'The  manuscript  is  probably  of  the  ninth 
century. 

'These  passages  will  convince  you  that  the 
ancient  Irish  knew  snakes  in  literature.  They 
never  saw  them  in  their  own  island,  for  in  early 
times,  as  at  the  present  day,  snakes  formed  no  part 
of  the  Irish  fauna. 

'  In  a  manuscript  of  the  fourteenth  century  (in 
its  oldest  part),  now  in  the  Bodleian  (Rawlinson, 


B.   512),  there  is  a  note    comparing    Ireland    to 
Paradise  : — 

'Inis    hErenn,         tra,         ro    suidigad      isin 
'  Isle    of  Erin,  moreover,    is      situate     in  the 
fuined.      Amal  ata        Pardas         Adaim     ic   an 
west.         As       is  the  Paradise  of  Adam  at  the 
turcbail  is  amlaid  ata  hErin  ocan  fuiniud.     Ocus 
sunrise,  so  likewise  is    Erin   at  the  sunset.      And 
atat     cosmaile     o      aicmud  uire         amal   ata 
they  are   similar  from  quality  of  earth  :   as       is 
Pardas        cen  biasta,  cen       nathraigh, 

Paradise  without    monsters,    without     snakes, 

cen    leomam,     cen    dracoin,  etc.  Is   amlaid  ata 
without   lions,  without    dragons,     so  likewise  is 
Eirin   fon    innus  cetna,     cen      nach   nanmanna 
Erin     in   manner  like,   without  any       animal 
nerchoitech  acht  mic-tire  nama 
noxious      but  the  wolf  alone. 

'St.  Patrick  is  related  to  have  fought  with  evil 
spirits  on  Croagh  Patrick,  and  to  have  driven 
those  there  present  out  of  Ireland,  and  this 
incident  seems  in  very  late  times  to  have  led  to 
the  notion  that  he  expelled  snakes  from  Ireland. 
This  is  not  be  found  in  any  ancient  account. 

'  I  agree  w-ith  you  as  to  the  rarity  or  perhaps 
absence  of  well  drawn  snakes  in  early  illuminated 
Irish  writings  and  designs,  and  it  may  easily  be 
imagined  that  since  the  Irish  never  met  with 
snakes  on  their  mountains  or  plains  they  therefore 
did  not  draw  them. 

'The  nearest  approach  I  remember  is  on  the 
top  part  of  the  left  side  of  the  cover  of  the  bell  of 
St.  Patrick's  will,  a  work  of  art  of  which  you 
probably  have  a  drawing.  There  is  a  copy  of  it 
in  this  house. 

'  The  passage  in  English  literature  of  which 
your  husband  was  thinking  refers  to  Iceland,  not 
Ireland.     It  is  in  Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson. 

'  Johnson  had  said  that  he  could  repeat  a 
complete  chapter  of  "  The  Natural  History  of 
Iceland"  from  the  Danish  of  Horrebow,  the  whole 
of  which  was  exactly  thus:  "Chap.  LXXII. 
Concerning  Snakes.  There  are  no  snakes  to  be 
met  with  throughout  the  whole  island." 

'  It  is,  of  course,  true  of  Ireland.  The  modern 
Irish  expression  for  snake  is  Nathair  nimhe,  often 
pronounced  -n  Athair  nimhe,  whence  a  false 
etymology  "  father  of  poison "  (neinh,  poison, 
genitive  nimhe).  Of  course,  the  true  rendering 
of  Nathair  (gen.  Nathrach)  nimhe,  is  Natrix 
venenifera,  a  genitive  being  often  thus  used  with 
adjectival  sense.' 

We  will  now  go  a  stage  further.  The  Chinese 
vase,  fig.  18,  from  which  pattern  fig.  14  is  taken, 
seems  to  me  to  be  a  connecting  link  or  to  be  the 
great-grandciiild  of  a  connecting  link  between 
the  snake  (?)  patterns  which  have  been  figured 
above,  and   a   very    interesting  series   of   bronze 


M 


^IS 


The  Snake  Pattern 

vessels,  supposed  to  be  hinging  Limps,  discovered 
in     Scandinavian     and     Danish     graves.       The 


supremely  interesting  point  is  that  although  they 
have  a  definite  characterization  of  their  own  we 
are  compelled  to  connect  them  with  the  Mycenaean 
period  in  the  Greek  islands,  and  with  Etruscan 
work  in  Central  and  Southern  Italy,  and  with 
designs  on  gold  discs  found  by  Dr.  Schliemann  at 
Mycenae.  Fig.  20  shows  the  bottom  of  a  hanging 
bronze  vase  found  at  Senate  in  Vestergdttland 
and  described  by  Oscar  Montelius  in  his  '  Swedish 


cover,  also  found  in  a  bog  at  Senate,  and  described 
by  Du  Chaillu  in  his  'Viking  Age.'     Fig.  22    is 
another  described  by  Oscar    Montelius. 
Fig.  23,  another  found  in  Sweden.  Mon- 
^"^^^^^^V      telius  assigns  vases  of  this  class  to  all  three 
V5^=*:fc^  \    periods  of  the  bronze  age,  the  beginning 
iU('      of  which  he  puts  as  far  back  as,  at  any  rate, 
r    1500  B.C.      Some  vases  which  have  four 
holes  instead  of   two    handles  he   allots 
to  the  '  interesting   period    between    the 
bronze  and  the  iron  age ' — that  is,  about 
500  B.C. 

With  regard  to  correspondences  with 
other  ancient  art,  for  general  shape  we 
may  refer  to  Central  and  Southern  Italian 
pottery  of  what  is  usually  called  the 
Etruscan  period,  figured  by  Oscar 
Montelius  in  his  various  works  on  primi- 
tive civilization  (see  figs.  24-28),  also  to 
fig.  29  (pottery),  and  No.  30  (bronze  from 
Bologna  graves  of  the  later  iron  age). 

In  the  matter  of  design    fig.    23,    part 

of  a  Scandinavian  hanging  vessel,  may 

be  compared  with  fig.  31,  a  vase  pattern 

from  the  case  of  pottery  of  the  Mycenaean  period 


in  lalysos  and  Rhodes. 


Fig. 


13  may  be  compared 


with  32,  33,  34,  from  the  same  case.  Fig.  22,  Scan- 
dinavian, suggests  some  affinity  with  fig.  35,  a 
primitive  Italian  bronze  (Montelius)  ;  and  fig.  36, 
which  is  from  the  middle  of  the  bottom  of  a  Swedish 
hanging  vessel  of  bronze,  has  a  cousinship  with  fig. 
37,  from  an  Etruscan  pottery  vase. 

The  little  snakes  round  the  centre  of  fig.  23 
(Northern)  are  to  be  found  on  various  Southern 
vases.  See  for  example  figs.  25,  29  and  the 
grotesque  Etruscan  head,  fig.  38. 


Antiquities.'     Tliis     should    be    compared    with 

fig-  19-  ,  ■  , 

Fig.  21  is  another  similar  vase,  complete  with  a 

136 


The   gold  discs  found   at    xMycenae   offer    the 
most  remarkable  resemblance  that  I  have  found 
y where   to   the   peculiar    meander   patterns   ot 


an 


The  Snake  Pattern 


these  vases.     I  have  sketched  two  (figs.  39  and  40) 
out  of  several  showing  this  close  likeness. 


are  primitive  Bolognese — they  speak  for  them- 
selves. Fig.  48  is  the  ordinary  Greek  snake  of  the 
best  period  vases. 

Similar  chains  of  resemblance  can  be  traced  in 


from  the  tombs  of  Cabiri  in  Boeotia,  600-500  B.C. ; 
figs.  42-45  are  Scandinavian  patterns  ;  46  and  47 


respect  of  bird  forms,  with  the  universal  lion,  with 
key  or  meander  patterns  and  interlaced  work,  with 
terminal  heads  on  handles  and  weapons,  and  with 
regard  to  certain  other  details. 


THE  SACRAMENTAL  PLATE  OF  S.  PETER'S 
CHURCH,  VERE  STREET 

;A^  BY  ARTHUR  F.  G.   LEVESON  GOWER  rjkr 


HE  Sacramental  Plate  in  use 
at  S.  Peter's  Church,  Vere 
Street,  is  of  considerable  in- 
terest. It  was  given  to  the 
church  by  Edward  Lord 
Harley  and  his  wife  Hen- 
rietta, only  daughter  and 
heiress  of  John  Cavendish 
Holies,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  at  the  opening  on 
Easter  Day,  1724.  The  church,  which  was 
founded    by  Lord   and  Lady   Harley  (afterwards 


Earl  and  Countess  of  Oxford)  for  the  use  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  new  houses  in  Marylebone 
Fields,  was  first  called  Marylebone  Chapel,  and 
then  successively  O.xford  Chapel  and  S.  Peter's 
Church.  The  church  was  designed  by  the  well- 
known  architect,  James  Gibbs,  who  was  also 
architect  of  the  Church  of  S.  Martin's-in-the- 
Fields,  in  addition  to  many  other  well-known 
buildings  in  London,  Oxford,  Cambridge  and 
elsewhere. 

The   plate   includes   two    flagons   of   silver-gilt 


Tlate  of  S.  Peters  Qhurch^  Vere  Street 


with  plain  cylindrical  bodies  on  spreading  moulded 
feet,  with  flattened  dome  covers  and  scroll  handles 
of  the  time  of  James  I,  1617. 

These  flagons  are  inscribed  'For  the  use  of 
Marybone  Chapell,  the  gift  of  the  Founders, 
Easter  Day,  1724.' 

The  flagons  are  engraved  with  the  followmg 
coat  of  arms.  Quarterly  i  and  4,  or,  a  bend  cottised 
sable  (for  Harley)  ;  2  and  3,  or,  two  lions  passant 
gules  (for  Brampton).  On  an  escutcheon  of 
pretence,  quarterly  i  and  4,  ermine,  two  piles  m 
point  sable  (for  Holies) ;  2  and  3  sable,  three  bucks 
heads  argent  attired  or  (for  Cavendish).  The 
supporters  are  two  angels  ppr.  habited,  and  wings 
displayed  or.  Underneath  is  the  motto  '  Virtute 
et  fide.'  On  the  covers  is  the  crest,  a  castle 
triple-towered  or;  out  of  the  middle  tower  a 
demi-lion  issuant  gules  (for  Harley). 

The  alms  dish,  which  is  oval,  is  of  silver-gilt, 
with  plain  sunk  centre,  the  border  ornamented 
with  leafage  strapwork,  and  shells  with  gadroon 
and  rosette  edging.  Its  length  is  \']\  inches  and 
the  date  is  George  I,  1724. 

This  dish  is  inscribed  '  For  the  use  of  Marybone 
Chapel  the  Gift  of  the  Founders  1724.' 

There  are  two  chalices  or  cups  of  silver  gilt, 
with  arabesque  and  convex  flute  strap  ornament, 
baluster  stems  and  moulded  feet,  8  inches  high. 
These  are  of  the  time  of  George  I  ;  but  they  are 
not  hall-marked,  the  probability  being  that  they 
had  to  be  made  by  a  given  date— viz.,  Easter  1724 — 
and  that  there  was  no  time  to  stamp  them,  and 
that  they  were  allowed  to  be  sent  to  the  church 


on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  on  Easter  Day  to 
be  returned  to  be  hall-marked  afterwards,  but  that 
this  was  eventually  omitted  to  be  done.  These 
cups  are  engraved  '  For  the  use  of  Marybone 
Chapell  the  Gift  of  the  Founders,  Easter  Day 
1724,'  and  underneath  are  the  words  '  Bibite  ex 
hoc  omnes.' 

The  two  patens  of  silver-gilt,  which  form  covers 
to  the  cups,  are  plain,  with  raised  edges  on  plain 
feet  and  are  engraved  with  the  words  '  Hoc  est 
Corpus  Meum.'  These  patens  are  5^  inches  in 
diameter,  and  are  of  the  time  of  George  I. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  is  an  interesting 
piece  of  foreign  plate — viz.,  a  silver-gilt  dish, 
circular,  with  shaped  edge,  boldly  chased  with 
bosses,  terminating  in  spiral  convex  flutes,  and 
interspersed  with  punched  scroll  ornament,  having 
a  plain  circular  centre,  bordered  with  matted  band 
and  engraved  with  a  foreign  coat  of  arms  and 
coronet.  This  dish  is  13^  inches  in  diameter,  is 
late  seventeenth  century,  and  manufactured  at 
Dantzig. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  bell  of  S.  Peter's 
Church  is  also  engraved  with  the  names  of  Lord 
and  Lady  Harley,  the  founders,  and  with  the 
maker's  name,  Phelps,  who  also  made  the  big  bell 
of  S.  Paul's  Cathedral.  Richard  Phelps  was 
predecessor  to  the  present  firm  of  Mears  and 
Stainbank. 

Several  famous  organists  are  also  connected 
with  the  church,  amongst  whom  may  be  enume- 
rated William  Boyce  and  Edward  Francis 
Rimbault. 


THE    ENAMELLING    AND    METALLESQUE    ORIGIN    OF 
THE  ORNAMENT  IN  THE  BOOK  OF  DURROW 
^  BY  JOSEPH  M.   DORAN    ^^ 

HEN  in  Dublin  a  short 

time  ago,  with  a  double 

intention  in  view — to  see 

if   any   of   the    technical 

processes  used  by  the  old 

Irish  craftsmen  were  re- 

vivable,  and  also  if  they 

would    throw   any    light 

^ „. ...  I  was  attracted 

by  a  piece  of  champleve  enamel  with  panels 
suggesting  milletiori  glass  (fig.  i).  My  interest 
was  redoubled  when  later  I  found  that  the  illumm- 
ators  had  evidently  derived  some  of  their  decorative 
motives  from  work  of  this  kind  (fig.  2).  Both  Du 
Chaillu,  in  his  'Viking  Age,'and  Dr.  Ingvald  Undset, 
in  '  Petites  Etudes  surle  dernier  age  de  fer  en  Nor- 
v^ge,'  published  in  the  '  M6moires  de  la  Societc 
des  Antiquaires  du  Nord'  for  1890,  have  noticed 
and  illustrated  bronze  vessels  found  in  graves  in 
Norway  which  are  embellished  with  enamel  similar 

138 


on  the  origin  of  Irish  Christian  art 


FIG.  I.     FRAGMENT    OF     ENAMELLED     BRONZE   IN 
THE    ROYAL  IRISH  ACADEMY  COLLECTION,  DUBLIN 


It 


,^^ 


,^' 


The  Ornament  of  the  Book  of  Durrow 


from  ^he  5ooKoj  Kelis, 
Gospel  XV,  2-5. 


FIG.    2 


to  the  piece  in 
the  Royal  Irish 
Academy  col- 
lection  in 
Dublin.  Dr. 
Undset  is  of 
SrIi>.Tk  opinion  that 
these  bronze 
vessels  came 
from  this 
country,  but 
is  unable  to  determine  whether  from  England, 
Ireland  or  Scotland.  However,  their  interest  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  illuminator  of  the  Book  of  Durrow, 
when  he  drew  the  symbol  of  St.  Matthew  (fig.  3), 
was  evidently  inspired  by  a  handle  similar  to  one 
that  Dr.  Undset  illustrates  (fig.  4).  The  symbols 
of  the  other  three  Evangelists  in  this  manuscript 
show  the  same  infiuence  in  varying  degree,  that  of 
St.  Luke  least  of  all.  The  'Cross'  page  in  the 
same  manuscript  (fig.  5),  places  the  matter  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt.     The  cross  is  evidently  the 

illuminator's  ver- 
sion of  this  kind 
of  enamel,  which 
for  the  sake  of 
being  explicit,  but 
using  the  term 
loosely,  we  might 
name  'champleve- 
millefiori  enamel ' 
(Mr.  Day  in  his 
recent  book  on 
enamelling  makes 
some  valuable 
technical  remarks 
on  millefiori  glass 
inlay  on  metal), 
and  when  one 
sees  what  the  cross 
has  been  derived 
from,  the  rest  of 
the  page,  with  its 
bright  yellow, 
green  and  red  in- 
terlacings,  separ- 
ated from  a  black 
background  by  a 
line  of  colourless 
vellum,  becomes, 
one  might  almost 
say,  an  elaborate 
pieceofchampleve 
enamel,  the  vellum 
Ime  correspond- 
S^mboX  o|-  S>t  Mi-ffKetu,  jro-m  ing  to  the  metal 
"  me  ^oKof  Dw^Trpgi?,     ■       one   left    by    the 

enameller  and  the 
black  background 
being  of  course  the  calligrapher's  writing  fluid. 


The  late  ].  Romilly  Allen  has  pointed  out  that 
the  page  of  'Trumpet'  pattern  in  this  manuscript 
was  derived  from  enamelled  discs  showing  that 
device,  and  the  enamelled  roundels  on  the  'Thames' 
shield  in  the  British  Museum,  which  are  resembled 
in  technique  by  those  on  the  Ardagh  chalice,  are 
also  used  in  the  ornamentation  of  the  Books  of 
Durrow  and  Kells  (fig.  6). 

It  is  most  significant  that  the  dominant  note  in 
the  ornamented  pages  of  the  Book  of  Durrow 
should  be  derived  from  a  phase  of  enamelling 
associated  so  unmistakably  with  the  Romano- 
British  period  and  a  phase  of  glass  working  which, 
if  not  associated  quite  so  closely  with  the  same 
period,  has  at  least  left  some  traces  of  connexion 
with  it.  There  are  two  other  instances  of  the 
familiarity  of  the  Irish  craftsmen  with  Roman 
glass-working  methods  :  one  in  the  glass  cameos 
on  the  '  Tara '  brooch,  and  the  other  in  the  practice 
of  engraving  a  pattern  in  a  glass  base  and  filling  it 
with  another 
vitreous  paste 
which  melts  at  a 
lower  tempera- 
ture than  that  to 
which  it  is  ap- 
plied ;  of  which 
Roman  examples 
can  be  seen  in 
a  collection  of 
rings  in  the  Glass 
Room  of  the 
British  Museum, 
and  its  Irish 
parallel  on  the 
upper  side  of 
the  foot  of  the  Handle  o[  BTon3e  Vessel 
Ardagh  chalice.  .  .  .  , 

Having    got  a  fo«J.na  ^^^  Moklebusr,  Notlu^. 

clue  to  what  was      fig  4 
dominating     the 

mind  of  the  illuminator  of  the  Book  of  Durrow  in 
some  portions  of  his  work,  let  us  see  if  it  is  applic- 
able to  all.  Take,  for  instance,  the  opening  words 
of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  Some  of  the  interlaced 
patterns  on  this  page  show  a  peculiar  treatment 
(fig.  7).  Observe  how  a  strand  which  is  double  in 
one  part  of  the  pattern  is  divided  into  single 
strands  in  another  (evidently  in  the  illuminator's 
mind  each  is  a  separate  unit),  and  how  colour  is 
interspersed  in  the  spaces  between  the  knots. 

Naturally  influenced  by  the  facts  we  have  already 
ascertained,  we  turn  to  the  art  of  the  Romano- 
British  period  to  see  if  there  are  any  remains  of 
enamelled  metal-work  showing  interlacing,  and 
find,  so  far  as  I  know,  only  one  specimen,  but  a 
most  significant  one,  a  gold  bracelet  (said  to  be 
of  the  second  century  a.d.),  found  in  Radnorshire 
and  now  in  the  Gem  Room  of  the  British 
Museum.      The  interlaced  portion  is  composed  of 


H3 


The  Ornament  of  the  Book  of  T)urrow 


three  strands  of  gold  wire  placed  parallel  to  each 
other   and  then    interwoven  ;     the  clasp,  which 


eUam  \t\i  coloul i— Jrles3 


lT\^eI■l»■c^'i 
Green  pile "3  '^0, 

line  ofcoulr 


4wn<!)  yeUouj 
bAckqrouncL^Xl 


from  fhe  Book  of  Durrocu. 


FIG.  5 


shows  characteristic    Celtic    curves    made    with 
beaded  wire,  has  little  dots  soldered  here  and  there 

ENAMELLEFIS'       VERSIONS. 


THAMLS     SHIELD.*    ARDAGH    CHALICE. 
(  LLL!.M  I  NATOFLS'     VCRSIONS. 


BOOK  Of  DURR-OVi'.  •    BOOK  OF  KE.LLS. 
FIG,  6 

at  the  junctions  of  the  curves  and  enamel  in  the 
spaces  between  the  wires  (fig.  8).  It  seems  to  me 
a  short  step  from  introducing  enamel  in  the  spaces 
left  by  the  curves  and  spirals  to  introducing  it  in 


those  left  by  the  interlaced  wire.  If  this  is 
granted  we  have  an  excellent  reason  for 
Ihe  invention  of  the  stopped 
knot  in  the  endeavour  of  the 
workman  to  get  a  large  space 
in  which  to  put  enamel ;  in 
fact,  the  invention  of  the 
stopped  knot  was  forced  on 
him,  or  else  he  would  have  had 
to  abandon  a  most  obvious  idea. 
By  a  process  of  reasoning  back 
from  the  pattern  in  the  Book 
of  Durrow  which  I  have  just 
cited,  and  the  peculiar  treat- 
ment of  which  would  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  it  is  a 
development  of  interlaced  pat- 
terns similar  to  that  on  the 
Radnorshire  bracelet  built  up 
of  strands  of  wire  (hence  the 
separating  of  one  strand  from 
another),  we  see  the  idea  was 
not  abandoned.  The  problem 
was  solved,  most  likely  in  Brit- 
ain, and  a  new  decorative  device 
was  evolved  which  later  gen- 
erations of  Celtic  craftsmen 
carried  as  far  as  it  was  humanly 
possible. 

Further  proof  of  this  theory 
can  be  seen  on  the  Welsh 
Crosses  illustrated  in  Westwood's  '  Lapida- 
rium  Walliae.'  Plate  lo.  2.  B.  shows  the  sculptor's 
version  of  the  goldsmith's  wire  and  dots,  so  do 
patterns  on  plates  28  and  43,  and  in  his  description 
of  the  cross  in  Nevern  churchyard,  Pembrokeshire 
illustrated  on  plate  62,  Westwood  remarks  that 
'  some  of  the  gigantic  initials  above  alluded  to 
(in  Irish  manuscripts)  may  be  said  truly  to  repre- 
sent the  shafts  of  these  great  crosses  reduced  to 
the  size  of  a  miniature,  thus  proving  the  identity  of 
the  workmanship  as  well  as  the  workmen  by  whom 
both  classes  of  monument  were  executed.'  This 
is  partially  correct  ;  both  were  derived,  though  I 


FIG.    7 


FIG.   8.      EX.-VMELLED    GOLD  BRACELET   FOUND 
IN  R.'VDNORSHIRE.         IN  THE  BRITISH    MUSEUM 

think  independently  of   each  other,  from  the  en- 
amelling and  goldsmiths'  work  I  have  been  alluding 


144 


The  Ornament  of  the  'Book  of  T^urrow 


to.  Another  instance  of  the  fact  that,  wliether  a 
strand  was  double  of  treble,  each  of  its  units  was 
considered  separate  can  be  seen  on  plate  83,  fig.  2, 
where  the  double  strand  of  which  the  interlaced 
portion  is  composed  separates  into  its  units,  which 
are  used  to  make  a  symmetrical  fret  pattern  of 
Roman  type.  Westwood  points  out  several  Roman 
fret  patterns  on  the  Welsh  crosses — fig.  4,  plate  83, 
for  instance. 

It  is  evident  from  the  facts  shown  above  that  the 


Book  of  Dlutow  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the 
illuminated  manuscripts  of  the  Celtic  school,  and 
also  that  it  was  done  before  the  continental  in- 
fluences to  be  seen  in  the  Book  of  Kells  had 
reached  Ireland,  as  all  the  ornament  in  it,  with  the 
exception  of  the  zoomorphic  portions,  has  been 
traced  to  internal  sources.  Is  it  possible  the  inscrip- 
tion it  contains,  assigning  its  writing  to  '  Columba,' 
is  correct  as  to  date,  and  that  it  belongs  to  the 
later  part  of  the  sixth  century  ? 


DOCCIA  PORCELAIN  OF  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD 
c^   BY  DR.  EDMUND  WILHELM  BRAUN  cKs 


ITTLE  is  known  about  the 
beginningsof  the  different  Italian 
manufactories  of  porcelain. 
Though  Franks  in  his  'Cata- 
logue of  a  Collection  of  Conti- 
nental Porcelain,'  and  Chaffers 
m  his  '  Keramic  Gallery,'  as 
well  as  in  his  '  Marks  and 
historical  notes  and 
to 


something 


enlarge 


Monograms,'  have    given 
reproductions,   which    do  _ 

this  knowledge,  their  work  is  not  free  from  errors 
and  mistakes.  For  instance,  I  have  been  able  to 
identify  the  number  456,  the  statue  of  a  Roman 
warrior  seated,  which  Franks  described  as  being 
of  Venetian  origin,  as  a  piece  from  the  manufactory 
of  Fiirstenberg ;  and  the  tureen,  bearing  the 
name  of  the  painter  Jacobus  Helchis,  reproduced 
as  Venetian  porcelain  by  Chaffers,  and  described 
as  German,  uncertain,  by  Franks,  I  was  able,  in 
connexion  with  several  other  pieces  bearing  the 
same  signature,  to  identify  as  early  Vienna  porce- 
lain about  1735.'  After  much  study  and  travel  I 
have  got  together  a  large  quantity  of  material  for 
a  history  of  the  Italian  manufactories  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  which  I  hope  to  publish  in  the 
future.  Here  I  wish  merely  to  call  attention  to  a 
new  discovery,  made  by  myself,  which  throws  a 
very  interesting  and  instructive  light  on  the 
beginning  of  the  manufactory  of  porcelain  in 
Doccia  near  Florence,  founded  by  the  Marchese 
Giuori  in  1737. 

We  know  from  a  short  historical  review  (pub- 
lished by  the  still  existing  manufactory)  of  the 
history  of  the  manufactory  by  Lorenzini,  that  the 
first  porcelain  was  made,  after  two  years  of  experi- 
ment, in  1737,  with  the  help  of  Carl  Wandhelein, 
of  the  Vienna  manufactory. 

In  the  above-mentioned  book  on  the  Vienna 
manufactory  of  porcelain  I  have  pointed  out  the 
fact  that  no  Carl  Wandhelein  was  known  in  the 
latter  manufactory,  but  there  was  a  Carl  Wendelin 
Anreiter,  whose  signature  appears  on  many  pieces 

'  See  the  recently  publislied  book,  '  The  History  of  the 
Imperial  Vienna  Minufactory  of  Porcelain,' written  by  my- 
self and  my  friend,  Josef  Folnesics. 


of  Vienna  porcelain,  and  who  belonged  to  the 
great  family  of  porcelain  painters  and  miniaturists, 
Anreiter  von  Zirnfeld.  I  am  of  opinion  that  in 
the  account  given  in  the  Italian  review  some  con- 
fusion has  taken  place.  The  Italians  changed,  as 
it  seems,  the  second,  to  them  unknown,  baptismal 
name  Wendelin  into  Wandhelein.  The  correctness 
of  this  supposition  is  proved  by  the  fact,  that  there 
have  recently  appeared  two  cups  painted  by 
Anreiter  in  Doccia. 

The  collection  of  Dr.  Fritz  Clemm,  sold  by 
auction  in  Berlin  in  December,  1907,  contained 
one  of  these  cups  (cat.  No.  183).  It  is  a  slender 
cup  without  handles,  curving  outwards  tovv,u-ds 
the  brim,  and  octangular  in  shape.  The  inside  is 
entirely  gilded,  as  is  also  the  foot.  The  eight 
arched  fields  on  the  outside  are  richly  painted, 
chiefly  with  market-scenes  containing  two  or 
often  three  figures,  alternating  with  iron-red 
scrolls  which  make  the  framework  to  a  panel  en- 
closing a  gold  etched  bust,  which  is  a  form  of 
ornamentation  in  use  in  the  first  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  Above  the  gold  foot  there  is 
written  in  extremely  small  iron-red  letters  the 
signature  '  Carlo  Anreiter  VZ.'  This  VZ  does  not 
mean  the  abbreviation  of  Venezia,  as  the  Clemm 
catalogue  suggests,  but  is  the  abbreviation  of 
Anreiter's  suffix  '  von  Zirnfeld.' 

Opposite  to  this  signature  is  a  second  one 
'  Fierenze,'  not  remarked  by  the  compiler  of  the 
catalogue  of  the  Clemm  sale  (figs,  i  and  2).  The 
cup  was  bought  at  the  rather  high  price  of  1,600 
marks  by  a  Vienna  collector  of  porcelain,  Herr 
Heinrich  Rolhberger.  The  exact  pair  to  this  cup 
is  in  the  possession  of  the  Kaiser  Franz  Josef 
Museum  in  Troppau,  to  which  it  was  presented  by 
the  great  art  collector,  the  Baron  George  Beess  of 
Vienna  ;  this  second  piece  shows  the  same  colour- 
ing and  double  signature  '  C.  Anreiter  VZ.'  and 
'  P'ierenze'  (fig.  3).  The  substance  of  the  cup 
shows  clearly  that  it  is  a  trial  piece.  The  too  cal- 
careous and  therefore  too  vitreous  enamel  is  too 
thickly  put  on  the  porcelain,  and  some  sandy 
ruggedness  on  the  bottom  indicates  still  existing 
technical  inadequacy. 

H5 


IDoccia   Porcelain 


Both  these  signed  pieces  are  indubitable  early 
Doccia  porcelains,  and  through  comparison  with 
these  I  am  able  to  ascribe  to  the  same  manufactory 
a  charming,  finely  modelled  flagon  in  the  collection 
of  Herr  Cahn-Speyer  in  Vienna,  which  is  painted 
exactly  in  the  same  manner  with  figure  subjects 

(fig-  4)- 

The  ornamental  decoration  of  the  above  des- 
cribed cups  shows  clearly  the  influence  of  the 
earliest  Vienna  porcelains,  but  the  pretty  figures 
are  very  likely  painted  after  contemporary  Italian 
prints. 

A  second  group  of  early  Italian  porcelains  which 
show  the  direct  influence  of  Meissen  models 
I  also  ascribe  to  the  manufactory  of  Doccia. 
The  pieces  in  question  are  cups,  tureens  with 
covers  and  saucers,  etc.,  for  the  most  part  with  the 
so-called  'Neuozier'  brim,  and  cartouches,  framed 


by  iron-red  and  golden  tendrils  and  violet 
lustre  fields,  painted  with  coloured  Chinese  and 
pastoral  scenes. 

I  reproduce  here  a  tureen  from  the  museum  of 
the  porcelain  manufactory  at  Charlottenburg  (fig. 
c;),  a  tureen  from  the  Berlin  Kunstgewerbe 
Museum  (fig.  6),  a  cup  from  the  collection  of  Dr. 
Sarbo  in  Budapest  (fig.  7),  all  of  them  very  char- 
acteristic types  of  these  porcelains. 

A  number  of  pieces  with  the  same  decoration  were 
once  owned  by  the  Marchese  d'Azeglio,  whose  col- 
lection is  now  at  the  Museo  Civico  in  Turin  ;  one  of 
these  pieces  bears  the  stamp,  also  reproduced  by 


Chaffers 


© 


containing  the    initials  of    Pietro 


FanciuUo,  who  was  working  in  the  manufactory 
of  Doccia. 


THE  GORLESTON  PSALTER 
^  BY  SIR   EDWARD   MAUNDE  THOMPSON,  K.C.B. 


rA; 


N  the  course  of  the  last  few 
years  there  has  been  a  consider- 
able revival  in  the  general 
interest  in  and  study  of  Illu- 
minated Manuscripts,  after  a 
fairly  long  period  during  which 
these  beautiful  productions  of 
the  Middle  Ages  rather  dropped 
into  the  background  in  presence  of  other  more 
fashionable  literary  and  artistic  pursuits  succes- 
sively in  vogue.  Those  of  us  whose  memory  goes 
back  some  five-and-forty  years  will  not  have 
forgotten  how  popular  was  then  the  taste  for 
copying  from  illuminations.  Ruskin,  the  apostle  of 
mediaeval  art,  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  glory.  His 
disciples  were  many  and  enthusiastic  ;  and  the 
Preraphaelite  school  was  flourishing. 

The  modern  revival  of  the  taste  is  chiefly  due 
to  means  which  can  reach  further  than  even  the 
eloquent  voice  and  pen  of  Ruskin  ever  reached. 
Mechanical  contrivances  for  photographic  repro- 
duction now  perform  feats  which  would  once 
have  been  regarded  almost  as  magic,  and,  though 
they  cannot  bring  together  the  actual  manuscripts 
from  their  several  resting-places,  they  can  present 
us  with  their  simulacra  in  such  an  accurate  form 
that  the  study  and  comparison  of  illuminations,  as 
indeed  of  other  works  of  art,  are  made  easy,  and 
the  published  works  upon  the  subject  are  rendered 
intelligible  and  instructive  to  the  general  reader  to 
a  degree  which  was  formerly  impossible. 

The  monograph  before  us '  is  an  instance  of 
the  modern  method  of  treatment  in  describing  an 
important  manuscript — minute    and  accurate  in 

''The  Gorleston  Psalter':  .t  manuscript  of  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century  in  the  Library  of  C.  \V.  Dyson  Perrins. 
Described  in  relation  to  other  East  Anglian  books  of  the  period 
by  Sydney  C.Cockerell.    London:  Bernard  Quaritch.   /3  i3s.6d. 

146 


detail,  after  a  fashion  that  might  prove  tiresome 
were  it  not  for  the  generous  supply  of  photographic 
illustrations  which  are  selected,  not  only  from  the 
manuscript  itself,  but  also  from  other  volumes,  for 
purposes  of  comparison.  Mr.  Cockerell  has  not 
failed  to  render  his  description  in  this  respect  as 
complete  and  instructive  as  possible. 

The  Gorleston  Psalter  is  one  of  a  group  of 
illuminated  manuscripts  produced  in  the  Eastern 
Counties  early  in  the  fourteenth  century  ;  works 
of  the  East  Anglian  school  of  book  decoration, 
which,  while  essentially  English  in  sentiment, 
probably  owes  something  to  the  influence  of 
the  art  of  French  Flanders  from  across  the 
Channel.  Without  going  altogether  with  Mr. 
Cockerell  when  he  finds 'a  sympathy  with  the 
vigorous  schools  of  Artois  and  French  Flanders  ' 
to  be  '  clearly  shown  in  the  fondness  for  marginal 
grotesques' — for  the  fondness  for  grotesques  in  the 
mediaeval  art  of  the  countries  of  western  Europe 
was  too  universal  to  be  marked  down  as  the 
special  attribute  of  any  particular  school — yet  we 
may  certainly  agree  that  there  is  a  reminiscence  of 
Flemish  art  in  certain  forms  of  the  conventional 
foliage  and  in  the  occasional  heaviness  of  outline 
in  the  drawings.  So  far  we  may  concede  an  ex- 
ternal influence.  But  the  general  style  of  the 
East  Anglian  school  is  peculiarly  its  own— not  of 
the  very  highest  type  of  illumination,  robust 
rather  than  refined,  and  in  its  scheme  of  ornament 
rather  inclining  to  heaviness  and  over-elaboration  : 
faultswhicharepartiallydisguisedin  theoriginals  by 
brilliant  colouring  and  liberal  use  of  gold,  but 
which  obtrude  themselves  in  the  unrelieved  mono- 
tone of  the  photographs. 

The  manuscript,  which  has  hitherto  been 
generally  known  as  the  Braybrooke  Psalter,  seems 
to  have  been  e.xecuted,  as  Mr.  Cockerell  tells  us, 


I.       nuCClA    Cll'    PAINTED    BY   AXKKITKK.      IN    THI-; 
CliLLECTIciX   OF    HERN    H.     KOTHBEKGEli,    VIENNA 


OPFOMTE   HUE   OF   CLP    IN    FIG.    I 


3.       DCILXIA    HP    PAlNTEIl    BY    ANKEIThK.        IN 
THE    KAIM-N    FNAN/.-JOSEF    MISEL'M,  TKoPPAU 


4.      DoiX  \  \    II I   ■     I  HE   COLLEC- 
TION   OF    HEKK    CAH.N-bPEYEU,    VIENNA 


/^ 


n 


UOCCIA    POKCELAIN    OF    THE 
EARLIEST   PERIOD.      PLATE   I 


<^^ 


5.      DOCCIA   TIKEEX.      IN     THE    MUMIM    u\-    THE 
PORCELAIN  MANTKACTORY   AT  CHAKLOTTENlilRG 


0.      DllCClA      TIKEEX.         I\      THE 
KUNSTGEWERBE  MUSEUM.  BERLIN 


7.      DOCCIA  CUP.     IN  THE  COLLEC- 
TION    OK    DR.    SARBO,     BVDAPEST 


DOCCIA    PORCELAIN    OF    THE 
EARLIEST   PERIOD.      PLATE    II 


The   Gorleston    Tsalter 


for  some  distinguished  person  connected  with  the 
church  of  St.  Andrew  of  Gorleston,  a  place  once 
of  some  importance  lying  close  to  Yarmouth. 
Influenced  chiefly  by  the  occurrence,  in  two 
places  in  the  volume,  of  the  arms  of  Roger  de 
Bigod,  fifth  earl  of  Norfolk  and  Marshal  of 
England,  who  died  in  1306,  Mr.  Cockerell  is 
led  to  suggest  tentatively  that  the  earl  was  the 
distinguished  person  in  question  ;  and  again,  on 
this  assumption,  he  is  induced,  rather  contrary  to 
his  better  judgment,  to  fix  the  date  of  the  manu- 
script earlier  than  1306.  But  so  many  shields  of 
arms  of  different  English  families  are  introduced 
into  the  illuminated  pages  merely  as  ornaments, 
that  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  for  attaching 
more  importance  to  one  coat  than  to  another  ; 
and,  as  to  the  actual  period  of  the  execution  of  the 
volume,  some  clue  is  afforded  by  the  character  of 
the  writing  of  the  catchwords  of  the  quires,  which 
are  in  a  charter-hand  of  the  type  which  is  usually 
attributed  to  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  Arguments 
from  such  niceties,  however,  must  not  be  pressed 
too  far.  There  is  good  reason  for  assuming  that 
the  manuscript,  like  the  great  Ormesby  Psalter  of 
the  Bodleian  Library,  passed  at  an  early  date  into 
the  possession  of  the  cathedral  priory  of  Norwich, 
for  a  litany  applicable  to  that  church  was  added 
to  the  volume  in  the  course  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  By  the  sixteenth  century  it  had  passed 
into  secular  hands,  being  then  owned  by  Sir 
Thomas  Cornwallis,  a  noted  East  Anglian,  who 
flourished  in  the  reigns  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth  and 
even  survived  to  see  King  James  upon  the  throne. 
It  descended  in  the  Cornwallis  family  until  the 
death  of  the  second  Marquess  Cornwallis  in  1823, 
when  it  passed,  by  marriage,  to  the  Lords  Bray- 
brooke  of  Audley  End.  Mr.  Perrins,  the  present 
fortunate  owner,  acquired  the  manuscript  in  1904. 
By  way  of  frontispiece  to  the  present  publica- 
tion, the  page  containing  the  initial  and  border 
ornamenting  Psalm  ci  is  reproduced  in  colours, 
affording  a  sample  of  the  brilliant  decoration  of 
this  splendid  psalter.  The  central  object  which 
arrests  the  eye  is  the  graceful  female  figure  sym- 
bolizing the  Church,  which  appears  to  be  the  best 
example  of  decorative  figure-drawing  in  the  volume. 
With  the  colours  in  this  plate  to  guide  us,  we  can 
more  easily  follow  the  structure  of  the  peculiar 
conventional  growths  of  which  the  borders  of  the 
manuscripts  of  this  school  are  composed,  and  here, 
as  in  other  English  manuscripts,  a  pleasing 
feature  in  the  scheme  of  ornament  is  the  introduc- 
tion of  natural  plant  life— oak-leaves,  acorns,  daisies, 


etc.,  along  with  the  foliage  of  the  ordinary  stereo- 
typed pattern. 

The  rest  of  the  plates  are  photogravures  and 
collotypes  ;  and  it  is  among  these  that  a  selection 
from  the  illuminated  pages  of  other  manuscripts 
affords  us  the  means  of  comparing  the  art  of  the 
Gorleston  Psalter  with  that  of  other  examples  of 
the  East  Anglian  school.  Two  psalters  in  particular 
are  closely  connected  in  style  with  that  of 
Gorleston— -namely,  the  Douai  and  the  St. 
Omer  Psalters.  The  Douai  manuscript  is  itself 
of  Gorleston  origin,  having  been  the  gift  of 
Thomas,  vicar  of  Gorleston,  to  an  abbot  John, 
who  may  have  been  John  of  Aylesham,  abbot  of 
Hulme  in  Norfolk  from  1325  to  1346.  The  St. 
Omer  Psalter,  so  called  from  its  having  been 
executed  for  a  member  of  the  family  of  St.  Omer, 
is  unfortunately  incomplete.  It  now  forms  part 
of  the  collection  of  Mr.  Henry  Yates  Thompson. 
Comparing  the  '  Beatus '  page  (Ps.  i)  of  the  three 
several  manuscripts  (plates  iv,  xv,  xvii),  there  can 
be  no  hesitation  in  accepting  the  order  of  merit 
assigned  to  them  by  Mr.  Cockerell  :  the  St.  Omer 
is  facile  priiiccps,  and  the  Douai  excels  the 
Gorleston.  The  St.  Omer  page  is  a  wonderful 
production  of  minute  and  delicate  work,  with 
which  the  other  two  bear  no  comparison.  But 
even  in  this,  the  finest  example,  there  is  the  fault 
of  overcrowding ;  and  we  cannot  forgive  the 
artist  for  introducing  a  series  of  heads  or  busts  of 
startling  appearance  which  upset  the  balance  of 
the  design.  Nor  can  we  be  brought  to  admire 
the  two  Crucifixions  from  the  Gorleston  and  the 
Douai  volumes  (plates  iii,  xvi).  The  drawing  is 
poor  and  the  borders  are  unimaginative  ;  so  differ- 
ent from  the  noble  treatment  of  the  subject  as 
seen  in  the  Arundel  Psalter  in  the  British  Museum 
(plate  xxi),  probably  the  finest  example  in  existence 
of  this  school,  and  here  inadequately  represented 
by  two  plates,  we  regret  to  say  very  poorly 
executed. 

We  must  not  take  leave  of  this  handsome  and 
finely  printed  monograph,  for  which  we  have  to 
thank  Mr.  Perrins's  liberality,  without  noticing 
the  many  grotesques  and  humorous  scenes  from 
domestic  and  animal  life  with  which  Mr.  Cockerell 
has  filled  several  of  his  plates.  We  enjoy  the 
amusement  which  these  little  drawings  afford  us  ; 
no  doubt  they  amused  the  draughtsmen  still  more. 
But  we  never  cease  from  wondering  why  the 
margins  of  religious  books  were  so  frequently 
selected  to  receive  the  expression  of  very  mundane 
humour  and  even  the  parody  of  sacred  things. 


NOTES  ON  VARIOUS  WORKS  OF  ART 


THE  'PARADE,'  BY  GABRIEL  DE  SAINT- 

AUBIN 
Among  recent  acquisitions  of  works  representing 
eighteenth-century  France  in  the  National  Gallery 


the  most  interesting  is  undoubtedly  The  Panide, 
by  Gabriel  de  Saint-Aubin.  The  story  of  its  identifi- 
cation is  briefly  related  in  the  director's  report 
for  1907.     The  picture  was  formerly  in  the  Baring 

N  151 


Notes  on  Various  JVorks  of  Art 

collection,  where  il  was  given  to  Wattcau's  master, 

Gillot.     It  was  purchased  in  the  saleroom  through 

Messrs.  Agnew  for  the  modest  price  of  ^^99  15s. 

and  was  recognized  by  Mr.  ].  P.   Heseltine  as  the 

original  of  an  engraving  in  '  Les  Theatres  Libertms.' 

Unfortunately   the   engraving   did    not   bear    the 

artist's  name,  so  that  identification  seemed  as  far 

off  as  ever.     At  last  M.  Gaston  Sch6fer  discovered 

in  a  portfolio  of  theatrical  prints  at  the  Bibliotheque 

Nationale  an  unfinished  proof  of  the  plate,  dated 

1760.     On  it,  inscribed  in  an   old   handwriting, 

were  the  words  'Gabriel  de  Saint-Aubin  pinxt.' 

The  discovery  was  remarkable.  Even  those 
keen  and  persistent  workers,  the  brothers  de  Gon- 
court,  had  failed  in  their  classic  work  on  French 
art  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  identify  a  single 
painting  by  Gabriel  de  Saint-Aubin.  The  picture 
just  acquired  by  the  National  Gallery  would  thus 
seem,  for  the  moment  at  least,  to  be  the  single  oil- 
painting  from  the  hand  of  this  brilliant  member  of 
a  brilliant  family. 

In  point  of  spirit  and  skill  The  Parade  is  not 
unworthy  even  of  so  talented  an  author,  for  in  its 
way  the  thing  could  not  be  done  better.  Since  its 
acquisition  by  the  National  Gallery  a  discovery  has 
been  made  in  France  which  sheds  new  light  on 
Saint-Aubin  and  his  connexion  with  Paris,  and  at 
one  point  touches  our  picture  so  nearly  that  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  it  here. 

In  the  'Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts'  for  April,  1908, 
M.  Philippe  Descoux  describes  and  illustrates  a 
copy  of  '  La  Description  de  Paris '  by  Piganiol  de 
la  P'orce  (Paris,  1742)  which  has  recently  been 
found  in  the  collection  of  M.  Jacques  Doucet. 
This  copy  once  belonged  to  Gabriel  de  Saint-Aubin, 
and  between  the  years  1770  and  1779  he  filled  the 
eight  volumes  with  notes  and  sketches  of  things 
Parisian.  Of  the  170  little  drawings  contained  in 
the  volume,  M.  Descoux  reproduces  only  a  few 
specimens,  but  one  of  these,  The  Alley  of  Lime 
Trees  in  the  Tiiileiies  Gardens,  dated  April  20th, 
1774  (which  he  reproduces),  bears  so  close  a 
resemblance  to  the  spirit  and  treatment  of  The 
Parade  that  the  sketch  might  well  seem  to  have 
helped  to  inspire  the  painting,  had  not  the  dates 
made  this  impossible.  It  can  thus  be  regarded 
only  as  an  interesting  parallel.*  C.  J.  H. 

AMBROSE    BENZONE 

Among  the  paintings  which,  prior  to  my  discoveries 
in  the  Archives  of  Flanders,  were  wont  to  be 
attributed  to  Roger  Van  der  Weyden,  and  later  on 
to  John  Mostaert  or  Gerard  David,  there  arc  a 
number  evidently  by  pupils  or  followers  of  the 
latter.  Two  of  these  followers  I  restored  to 
history:  Albert  Cornells  (c.  1475-1532)  in  1863,1 
and   Adrian    Isenbrant   (c.  1480-1551)    in   1865.- 

1  Illustration  from  a  photograph  by  Hauptaengl. 
1  'Le  Bcffroi,'  i,  i-:!2. 
■'  Ibid.,  ii,  320-3-^4 


The  central  panel  of  one  triptych  is  still  the  only 
work  known  to   have  been  painted  by  Cornells. 
Of  a  whole  series  of  works  attributed  by  Waagen 
to  Mostaert,  one  of  the  best,  the  altarpiece  of  Our 
Lady  of  Dolours,  in  the  church  of  Our  Lady  at 
Bruges,  was  restored  to  Isenbrant  in  1902  by  M. 
Hulin  and   myself.     Isenbrant   probably  worked 
with  David   until   June,  1520,  when  he  took  an 
apprentice  and  seems  to  have  started  a  workshop 
of   his  own.     A  large  number   of   paintings  are 
now  attributed  to  him  by  Friedlaender  and  Hulin.' 
Attention  was  first  drawn  by  Justi'to  several  other 
paintings  which  were  supposed  by  him  to  have 
been  the  work  of  a  Spaniard  who  had  learned  his 
craft  in  Bruges,  had  come  under  the  influence  of 
David,  and  had  modified  his  style  after  returning 
to  his  native  land.     He  proposed  to  call   him  the 
'  master  of  Segovia,'  his  best  work  being  in   the 
church  of  St.  Michael  in  that  city  ;  another  by  the 
same  hand,  signed  AB.,  he  found  in  the  collection 
of  Count  Valencia  at  Madrid.     Another,  similarly 
signed,   was    noticed     by   Friedlaender     in     the 
Germanic  Museum  at  Nurnberg  and  thought  by 
him  to  be  the  work  of  a  German  painter  influenced 
by  the    Lombard   school.     Hulin    found    in   the 
register  of  the  Guild  of  St.  Luke  at  Bruges  the 
record   of    admission  as  free  master  in   1519  of 
Ambrose  Benson  from  Lombardy.     As  long  ago 
as    1875   I    had    brought   together   a   number   of 
documents   concerning    Benson   and    his  family, 
but  as  I  had  found  no  mention  of  any  painting 
executed  by  him  nor  any  proof  that  he  had  pro- 
duced a  single  work  of  art  I  reserved  them,  hoping 
at  some  future  time  to  publish  the  same  with  a 
large  number  of  notes  on  other  Bruges  painters 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.     It  would 
be   interesting   to   know  something  of    Ainbrose 
Benson  prior  to  his  arrival  at  Bruges— whence  he 
came,  who  were  his  parents,  and  where  he  had 
learned    his   craft.     The   entry   in    the     Bruges 
register  merely  states  that  he  was  from  Lombardy, 
but  when  he  died  his  younger  son  John  was  still  a 
minor,  and  the  guardian  appointed  to  administer 
his  affairs  as    next-of-kin   to  his  father  was  one 
Francisque  da  Verona,  a  barber  who  had  settled 
in  Bruges  in  1510.     He  was  a  Lombard  but  not 
necessarily  a  native  of  Verona.     In  the  sacristy  of 
the  cathedral  of  that  city  there  is  a  painting  signed 
Antonio  Benzono  1523,^  but  I  have  been  unable  to 
find   mention   of   any  other    Benzone  at  Verona 
about  that  time.     There  was,  however,  a  family  of 
painters  of  this  name  who  flourished  at  Ferrara  in 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.     Geminian 
Benzone  had  a  son,  a  painter,  who  was  already 
dead  in   1504;  by  his  wife  Beatrice,  daughter  of 

'A  list  of  these  is  given  in  Bodenhaiisen's  monumental  work 
on  Gerard  David  and  his  school,  p.  209. 

*  In  the  '  Zeitschrift  fiir  bildende  Kunst,'  xxi.  139,  Leipzig,  1886. 

'H.  von  Tschudi  in  the  '  Allgemeines  Kiinstler  Lexikon,'  iii, 
566.    His  manner  is  said  to  resemble  that  of  Francis  Caroto. 


152 


THE      PARAUE,      BY      (JAIiKMKI,      lih      SAIN  l-.AI  KIN 
HKCENTLY  ACl^UIRED  BY  THE    NATIONAL  GALLERY 


.s^^ 


rilK    PAkADi:.    BY    (.AIllv'III.    DE   SAINT-AlllIN 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 


a  master  Ambrose,  he  had  several  sons,  two  of 
whom,  Geminian  and  James,  were  painters, 
Geminian  being  mentioned  in  public  documents 
as  'pictor  egregius'l"  It  was  customary  at  that 
time  to  give  the  eldest  son  the  name  of  his  pater- 
nal, and  the  second  that  of  his  maternal  grand- 
father :  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  Ambrose 
who  came  to  Bruges  may  have  been  the  second 
son  of  Geminian  and  Beatrice,  but  there  is  no 
mention  of  any  member  of  the  family  bearing 
that  name.  Ambrose  quickly  gained  the  esteem 
of  his  fellow  craftsmen,  for  he  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  council  in  1521,  1539,  1540  and  1545,  and 
was  twice  dean — in  1537-38  and  1543-44.  During 
several  years  he  exhibited  works  for  sale  at  the 
January  and  May  fairs  held  in  the  cloister  of 
the  P'riars  minor.  The  magistrates  of  the  Liberty 
of  Bruges  when  building  their  Landshuis  twice 
consulted  him  with  regard  to  their  projects  for  its 
decoration.  During  his  career  of  thirty  years 
he  doubtless  executed  many  paintings,  as  he  left 
at  his  death  in  January,  1550,  the  sum  of  90l.gr. 
Flemish  currency.  His  two  sons,  William  and  John, 
and  his  grandson,  Ambrose,  were  all  painters. 
William  was  a  member  of  the  council  in  1551-52 
and  1561-62,  and  died  in  1585.  John  went  to 
Antwerp  and  was  admitted  as  free  master  into  the 
guild  there  in  1551,  but  returned  to  Bruges  at  the 
end  of  1552,  was  a  member  of  the  council  in  1553- 
54  and  died  in  1585,  shortly  after  his  brother,  as  did 
also  Ambrose  the  younger. 

Bodenhausen  gives  a  list  of  works  attributed  to 
Benson  ;  as  to  the  two  signed  AB,'  there  can  I 
think  be  no  doubt,  but  as  regards  the  remainder 
it  must  be  remembered  that  Isenbrant,  the  sons  of 
John  Prevost,  the  Bensons  and  others  were  for 
many  years  busily  employed  in  painting  original 
works  and  copies  which  they  exported  to  Bilbao, 
where  they  met  with  a  ready  sale,  and  it  is 
in  Spain  that  Bruges  paintings  of  this  period 
are  chiefly  met  with.  They  are  easily  recognized  ; 
the  types  of  the  figures  as  a  rule  resemble  those  of 
David,  as  for  instance  those  of  Our  Lady  and  Child 
with  SS.  Katherine  and  Barbara  in  the  collection  of 
Martin  Leroy  at  Paris,  but  occasionally  the  type 
of  the  Holy  Child  and  the  landscape  liackground 
show  reminiscences  of  Milanese  masters.  The 
modelling  of  the  heads  is  often  hard,  the  fingers 
too  long  and  thin  ;  dark  red  and  dark  green  seem 
to  have  been  favourite  colours. 

W.  H.  J.  W. 

DRAWINGS     BY     GERARD     DAVID 
These  drawings,  evidently  leaves  of  a  sketch-book, 
were  sold  as  Holbeins  in  some  sale  or  other  not 

"  See  Cittadella,  '  Documenti  risgarduanti  la  Storia  aitistica 
Ferraiese,'  1868,  p.  25.  For  this  reference  I  am  indebted  to 
Drs.  Thieme  and  Becker,  the  editors  of  the  important  'Allgemeines 
Kunstler  Lexikon,'  now  in  course  of  pubHcation. 

'  These  are :  a  Holy  Family  at  Nurnberg  in  the  Germanic 
Museum,  244,  and  a  triptych  representing  the  Adoration  of  the 
Ma:ii  with  SS,  Anthony  of  Padua  and  Secundus  on  the  shutters. 


many  years  ago.  How  I  obtained  the  photo- 
graphs I  do  not  remember  ;  probably  I  picked 
them  up  otif  some  bookstall.  It  is  enough  to 
compare  the  heads,  evidently  drawn  from  life, 
with  the  heads  in  Gerard  David's  Marriage  at 
Caiia,  now  in  the  Louvre,  painted  for  Jan  de 
Sedano  early  in  the  sixteenth  century  (according 
to  Professor  Hulin),  to  see  that  the  draughtsman 
must  have  been  the  same  man  as  the  painter. 

Martin  Conway. 

NOTES  ON  SOME  EARLY  SPANISH 
MASTERS 
I.  One  of  the  most  important  points  about  Lo 
Fil  de  Mestre  Rodrigo — his  parentage — is  eluci- 
dated by  Seizor  L.  Tramoyeres  Blasco,  keeper  of 
the  museum  of  Valencia,  in  '  Cultura  Espailola,' 
No.  ix  (February,  1908).  The  article  is  of  great 
importance  in  view  of  the  National  Gallery's 
recent  accession,  an  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  signed 
by  this  rare  Valencian  master.'  F"irst  mentioned  in 
a  document  of  1464  concerning  a  now  lost  work, 
the  painter's  father,  Mestre  Rodrigo  de  Osona, 
again  occurs  in  1483  as  '  pictor  retabulorum  sedis 
Valentie,'  when  he  probably  supplanted  the 
Neapolitan  Francisco  Pagano,  and  Paolo  de  San 
Leocadio  of  Reggio,'  in  the  execution  of  works  for 
the  decoration  of  the  choir  of  Valencia  Cathedral, 
commenced  in  the  episcopate  of  Rodrigo  Borja, 
afterwards  Pope  Alexander  VI.  Mestre  Rodrigo 
is  considered  to  be  the  pupil  of  Jaime  Bago  or 
Jacomart  (d.  146 1),  the  painter  of  Alfonso  V  of 
Aragon,  for  a  knowledge  of  whose  career  we  are 
indebted  also  to  Senor  Trainoyeres  Blasco's 
researches.  Analyzing  different  paintings  existing 
at  Valencia,  the  author  assigns  to  Mestre  Rodrigo, 
the  elder,  panels  representing  SS.  Vincent  (Martyr) 
and  Vincent  Ferrer,  and  four  scenes  in  the  life  of 
St.  Narcissus,  in  the  cathedral ;  a  Crncifixion 
signed  Rodrigus  (de  Veia  ?),  in  the  church  of  S. 
Nicolas,  published  by  Monsieur  Bertaux  in  the 
'  Revue  de  I'Art  ancien  et  moderne,'  xx  (425)  ; 
various  fragments  of  works,  and  a  Pieta,  in  the 
museum.  When  Rodrigo  died  is  unknown,  as  is 
also  the  precise  significance  to  be  attached  to  the 
predicate  'de Osona,'  from  which  his  origin  in  the 
Catalan  town  of  Osona  might  be  inferred.  His 
works  exhibit  that  fusion  of  the  native  and 
Netherlandish  styles,  and  that  acquaintance  with 
Renaissance  details,  traced  by  Senor  Tramoyeres 
Blasco  first  in  Jacomart  and  later  in  Rodrigo's 
son.  So  far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  reproduc- 
tions accompanying  the  article,  the  conclusion 
appears  justified  that  Rodrigo  I  was  a  more 
accomplished  artist  and  his  style  purer  than  that 
of   Rodrigo   II,      The   son   lived   in   days  when 

'  Reproduced  and  described  in  The  Burlington  Magazine, 
Vol.  xi,  pp.  108  and  iii,  May,  1907. 

•^  For  this  artist's  works,  especially  at  Gandia,  see  Monsieur 
Bertaux's  article  in  the  '  Gazette  des  BeauK-Arts,'  3rd  series, 
xxxix,  207-20.    (March)  190S. 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

Italian  influences  were  rapidly  gaining  the  upper 
hand,  and  the  painting  at  the  National  Gallery, 
and  a  Christ  before  Pilate  (Valencia  Museum),  here 
attributed  to  him,  are  combinations  it  is  difficult 
to  summarize  in  words.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
further  material  concerning  both  artists  will 
reward  Seiior  Tramoyeres  Blasco's  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  the  early  Valencian  school.  At  present  the 
only  documentary  record  of  '  Lo  Fil  de  Mestre 
Rodrigo  '  is  an  entry  in  the  tax-rolls  (his  art  was, 
apparently,  a  remunerative  one)  in  1513. 

II.  In  'Arte,'  vol.  x  (fasc.  v),  Signor  R.  Schiff 
ascribes  a  recently-aquired  panel  in  the  Palazzo 
Mediceo,  Pisa,  to  the  San  Severino  master,  Lorenzo 
Salimbene.  The  subject  represented  is  Saint 
Catherine  of  Siena's  Last  Exhortation  of  Iter  Disciples. 
Although  it  has  passages  somewhat  similar  in 
treatment  to  Salimbene's  best-known  work,  the 
triptych  of  the  Mystic  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine, 
(Did  SS.  Simon  ami  Jude^  in  the  San  Severino 
Gallery,  there  can  be  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
it  is  from  the  hand  of  the  painter  of  the  Catalan 
altarpiece  of  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  Manresa. 
According  to  Seiior  Sanperey  Miquel  this  is  Louis 
Borrassa,  but  there  is  no  documentary  evidence  for 
this,  and  when  damaged  the  painting  was,  in  141 2, 
repaired  by  Francisco  Feliu.  The  Pisa  panel  has 
close  affinities  with  another  Pentecost  picture,  in 
S.  Anne's,  Barcelona,  illustrated  by  the  same 
authority  as  a  Borrassa,  and  likewise  with  the 
Santa  Clara  altarpiece  of  1415  (Vich  Museum),  the 
latter  an  authenticated  work  by  the  master.  The 
pseudo-Salimbene  is  a  closely  crowded  composi- 
tion, and  it  has  the  identical  types,  with  their 
almost  exaggerated  characterization,  of  the  master 
of  the  Manresa  painting.  The  shape  of  the  panel  is, 
moreover,  one  affected  by  Catalan  artists  for  the 
smaller  compartments  of  retables. 

III.  Three  panels  from  the  Ciudad  Rodrigo 
altarpiece,  now  in  Sir  F.  Cook's  collection,  were 
described  and  illustrated  in  The  Burlin'GTON 
Magazine,  vol.  vii,  pp.  388,  392  and  393,  August, 
1905.  It  is  interesting  to  find  one  of  them  serving 
as  the  composition  for  a  woodcut  in  an  edition  of 
Antonio  Nebrissensis's  'Aureaexpositiohymnorum,' 
printed  by  Paul  Hurus  at  Saragossa  in  1499. 
Including  a  few  alterations,  and  transpositions  of 
the  figures,  nearly  all  the  right  hand  and  central 
portions  of  the  painting  are  to  be  found  in  the  cut. 
The  latter  is  reproduced  in  Herr  Haebler's 
'  Tipografia  Iberica,'  pi.  xlii,  from  a  copy  of  the 
work  in  the  Royal  Library,  Stuttgart.  A  great 
feature  of  the  productions  of  the  Hurus  press  is 
(to  translate  the  same  authority)  'the  prodigious 
number  of  cuts  they  contain,  not  all  of  artistic 
merit,  but  many  after  originals  by  the  best  German 

2  Finished  in  1416,  and  signed  and  dated  by  the  artist,  then 
act.  26,  who  died  some  four  years  later.  Reproduced  in  '  Rassegni 
d'Arte,'  vi,  p.  50,  1906.  There  is  also  a  good  photograph,  since 
its  exhibition  at  Macerata. 

156 


masters.'  Any  one,  therefore,  who  could  spare  time 
to  examine  the  rare  and  somewhat  scattered  Hurus 
publications  might  be  in  a  position  to  decide  the 
date  of  certain  very  late  fifteenth-century  works, 
and  perhaps  discover  a  cut  after  some  famous  lost 
original.  A.  V.  D.  P. 

THE  GREEK  STATUE  FROM  TRENTHAM.i 

As  I  am  at  present  engaged  in  the  publication  of 
a  work  of  some  size  on  Roman  female  draped 
statues,the  excellent  article  on  the  interesting  draped 
figure  from  Trentham  in  the  March  number  of 
The  Burlington  Magazine  was  specially 
welcome.  A  careful  study  of  the  available 
material  has,  however,  convinced  me  that  the 
conclusions  of  Mr.  Cecil  Smith  as  regards  the 
most  essential  point  cannot  possibly  hit  the  mark. 

1  see  no  convincing  reason  for  separating  the 
statue  from  the  inscription.  On  the  contrary,  the 
character  of  the  style  and  the  somewhat  rough 
execution  of  the  figure  seem  to  me  in  perfect 
keeping  with  the  period  mentioned  in  the  inscrip- 
tion— namely,  the  first  century  B.C.  iThe  statue 
can  never  be  regarded  as  an  original  work  of  the 
fourth  century.  The  figure  belongs  to  the  class 
of  artistic  creations  of  the  first  century  B.C., 
which  do,  indeed,  already  bear  Roman  inscriptions, 
but  are  still  purely  Grecian  in  spirit.  As  the 
nearest  analogy  I  may  mention  the  honorary 
statues  from  Magnesia,  which  were  erected  to 
the  female  members  of  the  family  of  Q.  Baebius 
and  the  Pro-consul  L.  Valerius  Flaccus.-  These 
too  have  Roman  inscriptions,  and  date  from  the 
first  century  B.C.  The  draped  figure  from 
Trentham — like  the  statues  from  Magnesia — is 
no  new,  original  invention  ;  it  goes  back,  rather, 
to  a  well-known  model  of  the  fourth  century,'^  and 
repeats  it  in  the  spirit  of  the  waning  Hellenistic 
feeling  for  art.  The  execution  of  the  folds  has  no 
longer  that  easy  play,  the  surface  of  the  robe  has 
no  longer  that  shimmering  textural  charm,  which 
are  found  in  the  plastic  creations  of  the  Hellen- 
istic florescence.  The  command  of  form,  the 
lively,  curious  feeling  for  art,  have  died  out  in 
riotous  masses  ;  have  aged,  become  weary.  The 
face,  too,  of  the  Trentham  statue  is  but  a  banal 
well-known  ideal  type,  by  no  means  a  new 
creation  of  a  really  independent  artist. 

The  statue  comes  from  a  Grecian  studio  of  the 
first  century  B.C.,  and  was  then  used,  with  an 
added  inscription,  to  decorate  the  grave  of  P. 
Maxima.  Lastly,  I  may  mention — what  has 
escaped     Mr.    Cecil    Smith — that    there   are   two 

'  Translated  by  L.  I.  Armstrong. 

-Cf.  Humann,  Rothe,  Watzinger  :  '  .Magnesia  am  Maander.' 
Pp.  191  ft'.  A.  Hekler  :  '  Romische  weibliche  Gewandstatuen,' 
'  Miinchener  archeologische  Studien,'  pp.  123  ft",  (in  the  press.) 

2  The  comparison  of  the  statue  from  Trentham  with  dated 
draped  figures  of  the  fourth  century,  B.C.  like  the  Themis  from 
Rhammus  or  the  so-cMetiArkmisui  is  most  instructive.  Cf.'E^ij/ti 
apx-  1^9'-    f    4;  Brunn-Bnnckmann  :  Denkmaler  pi.  242. 


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Notes  on  Various  Works  of  A  rt 


known  replicas  of  the  type  of  the  Trentham 
figure:  one  in  the  Hall  of  Inscriptions  in  the 
Uftizi  at  Florence  ;*  the  other,  with  a  Roman 
portrait  head,  in  the  Palazzo  Lazzeroni  in  Rome.^ 
The  motive  of  the  figure  has  also  been  employed 
in  the  Sarcophagus  of  the  Muses  in  the  Munich 
Glyptothek.*'  Dr.  Anton  Heklek. 

Budapest. 

♦LANVAL'  AT  THE  PLAYHOUSE 

It  is  all  too  seldom    that  a    production   on    the 
London  stage  deserves  notice  in  a  magazine  devoted 
to  the  fine  arts,  and  '  Lanval,'  the  romantic  drama 
of  the  Arthurian   age  performed  at  two  matincei 
last   month,  must   not    be   allowed   to   pass   un- 
chronicled.     The  author,  '  Mr.  T.  E.  Ellis,'  whom 
the  newspapers  have  revealed  to  be  Lord  Howard 
de  Walden,  is,  if  not  a  practised  dramatist,  at  least 
an  author  of  an  original  and  fertile  imagination,  a 
writer  of  sound  blank  verse  not  without  passages 
of  true  poetry,  and  a  contriver  of  interesting  and 
powerful  dramatic  scenes.     We  should  have  liked 
to  see  the  whole  play  staged  and  dressed  by  Mr. 
Charles  Ricketts,  for  whose  genius  in  this  branch 
the  author's  conceptions  would  have  provided  a 
fine  field.     As  it  was,  only  one  of  the  scenes  was 
entrusted  to  the  artist  of  'Attila'  and  '  Don  Juan 
in    Hell ' ;    but   that   was   one   which   demanded 
treatment  beyond  the  reach  of  the  ordinary  de- 
signer.   Lanval,  wandering  penniless  and  homeless 
from  Arthur's  court,  is  wooed   in  the  forest  by  a 
maiden  from  '  the  middle  world,'  and  accompanies 
her  to    her  own  domain.     This  was   the   region 
revealed  to  us  by  Mr.  Ricketts.     Save  for  a  sh.ift 
of  red  light  cast  from  the  turmoil  of  the  upper 
world,  the  only  colour  was  green.     Under  a  sky  of 
infinite  depth,  where  stars  twinkled,  rose  strange 
green  rocks  of  many  sizes,  but  all  approaching  in 
shape  to  the  conical.   The  middle  world  is  a  place 
of  rest  and  dreams,  not  of  action,  and  the  contrast 
to  the  hard  and  dusty  world  of  men  was  not  only 
indescribably  refreshing  but  the  very  gist  of  the 
author's  meaning.     The  whole  was  v.ague,  myste- 
rious, quiet,  and  empty  ;  the  atmosphere  was  cold 
and  still  ;  the  light   appeared  to  be  one  with  the 
place,  and  not  to  fall  on  it  from  a  point  outside  ; 
and  the  scene  told  its  own  story  and  created  its 
own    impression    before  a  word    had  been    said. 
The  costumes,   too — the  floating  drapery  of  the 
maiden  and  the  exquisite  tunic  worn  by  Lanval — 
were  the  work  of  the  same  artist,  and  part  of  his 
conception.     For  the  rest  of  the  scenes,  the  pro- 
ducers had  done  their  best  with  ordinary  material, 
and  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  some — the  forge, 

*  Amelung  :  '  Fiihrer,' No.  112,  p.  78  ;  Reinach  :  '  Rcpeitoiie 
de  la  statuaire  'II,  606,  7. 

'  Einzelverkauf,  No.  i  170 ;  A.  Hekler  :  '  Romische  weibliche 
Gewandstatuen,'  p.  19S. 

■*  Furtwaengler :  '  Beschreibung,'  No.  326;  Baumcister  : 
Denkmaler,'  Abb.  11S6.  Cf.  also  the  motive  in  terra-cottas  : 
Winter  :  '  Die  antiken  Terrakotten,'  p.  50,  i,  2,  p.  51,  i,  etc. 


for  instance,  where  the  author  incidentally  betrayed 
the  connoisseur's  joy  in  armour — they  had  done 
very  fairly  well.  H.  C. 

A   LOST   ALTARPIECE    BY  THE    MAITRE 

DE  FL^MALLE 
The  peculiar  fascination  which  seems  to  attach 
itself  to  the  Maitre  de  Flemalle  is,  perhaps,  partly 
due  to  the  fact  that  there  still  exists  a  chance  of 
discovering  him  in  works  attributed  to  other 
masters.  His  characteristics,  too,  are  so  strongly 
marked  that,  if  he  has  once  been  recognized,  there 
is  hardly  any  room  for  doubt  left.  Indeed,  since 
Dr.  Bode,  some  twenty  years  ago,  identified  him 
with  the  famous  Merode  triptych  at  Brussels, 
which  proved  so  great  an  attraction  at  the  recent 
exhibition  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  various  other 
paintings  have,  with  good  reason,  been  assigned 
to  him. 

A  fresh  glimpse  of  light  has  recently  been  thrown 
on  the  master's  activity  by  a  dated  inscription  on 
a  picture  by  him  in  the  Prado,  which  was  formerly 
attributed  to  Jan  van  Eyck.  It  represents  Henricus 
Werlis,  a  well-known  master  of  arts  at  Cologne, 
with  St.  John  the  Baptist.  According  to  this  in- 
scription, the  panel  in  question,  which  evidently 
formed  the  left  wing  of  a  triptych  (the  right  wing 
being  the  Si.  Barbura  Rending,  likewise  at  the 
Prado),  was  painted  in  1438.  LJnfortunately,  the 
centre-piece  of  these  side-panels,  which  were 
formerly  at  Aranjuez,  has  disappeared. 

Now,  is  it  not  possible  that  a  later  copy  of  this 
centre-piece  has  come  down  to  us  in  an  Aiuuiiicia- 
tion  in  the  Louvre,  which,  labelled  '  Ecole  Flam- 
mande,'  has  hitherto  passed  unnoticed  ?  It  evi- 
dently bears  the  same  relation  to  the  wings  in  the 
Prado  that  the  Merode  altarpiece  bears  to  its 
wings.  The  Virgin,  holding  an  open  missal  in  her 
left  hand,  is  interrupted  in  her  reading  by  the 
divine  messenger.  With  her  long  hair  parted  over 
her  forehead,  and  falling  in  heavy  curls  over  her 
shoulders,  she  forcibly  recalls  the  reading  Mary  of 
the  Merode  picture  ;  whilst  the  angel,  with  his 
gorgeous  dalmatic  and  white  under-garment 
sweeping  with  heavy  folds  over  the  patterned  floor, 
seems  to  be  inspired  by  Roger  van  der  Weydeii's 
Angel  Gabriel  in  the  Kann  collection.  As  to  the 
interior  of  the  chamber,  it  bears  a  close  analogy  to 
the  oratory  of  the  Si.  Btnbiiia  Reading.  There  is 
the  same  window  in  the  background  looking  out 
on  a  landscape ;  there  is  a  nearly  identical 
mantelpiece  with  the  lustre  over  the  centre  and 
the  bottle  with  its  well-drawn  shadow  on  one  side 
of  it.  The  bronze  basin  and  pitcher,  too,  placed 
on  a  gothic  cabinet  near  the  window  are  of  a 
similar  cast  as  the  same  utensils  in  the  Prado 
panel. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  alternate  influences 
of  the  \'an  Eycks  and  of  Roger  van  der  Weyden 
in  the  Louvre  picture  ;  and  again  the  Maitre  de 

161 


Notes  on  Various  JVorks  of  Art 

Fleinalle's  own  characteristic  touches,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  sparkhng  tints  of  hght  on  sombre 
shadows,  and  in  the  dexterity  with  which  accessories 
are  handled.  Yet  with  all  his  adaptability,  the 
later  pupil's  hand  did  not  attain  the  same  force 
and  vitality,  the  power  of  plastic  modelling,  which 
we  find  in  the  original  works  of  the  master.  As 
it  is,  the  merit  of  this  Anminciation  in  the  Louvre 
lies  only  in  the  fact  that  it  seems  to  record  a  lost 
original  of  the  Maitre  de  Flemalle. 

Louise  M.  Riciiter. 

THE  EMBLEMS  OF  THE  EVANGELISTS 
It  needs  some  courage  nowadays  to  claim  a 
Western  origin  for  any  detail  of  the  received 
iconography  of  Christian  art.  Yet  such  is  the 
object  of  the  present  note  ;  and  that,  too,  for  a 
device  so  symbolical — and  therefore,  it  might  be 
supposed  prima  facie,  so  Eastern — as  the  emblems 
of  the  four  Evangelists.  It  has  been  admitted, 
however,  by  that  enthusiastic  and  thoroughgoing 
Byzantinist,  as  well  as  learned  archaeologist.  Pro- 
fessor Kondakov,'  that  this  device  is  unknown  in 
Byzantine  art  from  the  sixth  century  to  the  twelfth  ; 
and  1  only  wish  to  go  a  little  further — viz.,  to 
suggest  that  it  was  invented  in  the  West,  and  never 
found  its  way  at  all  into  Byzantine  art  until  the 
latter  period. 

Copies  of  the  Greek  Gospels,  containing  full- 
page  mmiatures  of  the  Evangelists,  form  by  far  the 
most  numerous  class  of  Byzantine  illuminated 
manuscripts.  The  earliest  extant  manuscript  of 
this  kind  is  the  Codex  Rossanensis,  of  the  sixth 
century,  in  which  one  only  of  the  four  portraits — 
that  of  St.  Mark — remains.-  He  sits  writing  his 
Gospel  at  the  dictation  of  a  lady,  who  is  generally 
explained  as  typifying  Divine  Wisdom  ;  but  there 
is  no  trace  of  the  lion  with  which  he  is  com- 
monly associated.  No  more  of  these  portrait- 
miniatures  have  survived  from  the  early  ages 
of  Byzantine  illumination ;  it  is  not  until  the 
beginning  of  the  tenth  century  that  the  great 
series  of  Greek  Gospel-books  becomes  con- 
tinuous. During  the  interval  the  personification 
of  Divine  Wisdom  drops  out  of  the  picture — dis- 
carded, perhaps,  as  being  too  directly  reminiscent 
of  pagan  art  ;  but  she  is  not  replaced  by  the  em- 
blems until  long  after  the  Crusades  had  begun  to 
bring  Western  ideas  into  the  East.  In  fact,  I 
know  of  no  instance  of  their  appearance  before 
1326,  when  they  occur  in  a  Gospel-book Hvritten  by 
Constantine,  priest  and  notary,  in  a  monastery 
dedicated  to  St.  Demetrius  the  Martyr,  probably  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Mount  Sinai,  where  it  was 
procured  by  Bishop  Butler.  It  is  possible,  of 
course,  that  between  the  sixth  and  tenth  centuries 
they  had  been  introduced  and  afterwards  rejected; 

"  Geschichte  des  byzant.  Emails,'  1S92,  p.  177. 
'^A.  Haseloff,  'Codex  purpureas  Rossanensis,'  1898,  pi,  14; 
A.  Muiioz,  '  11  Codice  purpureo  di  Rossano,'  1907,  pi.  15. 
»  Brit.  Mus.,  Add.  11838. 

162 


but  most  unlikely,  seeing  how  Byzantine  painters 
clung  to  symbolic  imagery,  especially  to  symbols 
of  such  unexceptionable  origin  as  the  'four  living 
creatures'  of  Ezekiel  i.  10,  the  'four  beasts'  of 
Revelation  iv.  7. 

In  Latin  patristic  literature  the  interpretation  of 
the   Apocalyptic   beasts   as   symbols   of   the   four 
Evangelists  goes  back,  no  doubt,  to  a  very  early 
date;  it  is  set  forth  in  full  detail  by  St.  Jerome  (d. 
420)  in  his  Commentaries  on  Ezekiel  and  Matthew.* 
Probably  the  oldest  surviving  examples  of  its  use 
in  art  are  an  ivory  diptych,  now  in  the  Trivulzio 
collection   at    Milan,"  and    the    mosaics   of     the 
Baptistery  of   S.   Giovanni   in  Fonte  at  Naples.^ 
Both  are  assigned  by  the  best  judges  to  the  end  of 
the  fourth  century  or  beginning  of  the  fifth,  and 
though  the  former  has  been  claimed  by  some  zealous 
Byzantinists,  there  are  good  reasons  for  regarding  it 
as' Roman  or,  at  any  rate,  Italian  work.  Illuminated 
copies  of  the  Latin  Gospels  from  the  seventh  century 
onwards  practically  always  include  the  emblems  : 
they  appear,  for  instance,  in  the  seventh  century 
Gospels  at  Cambridge  ;'  in  the  Codex  Amiatinus 
at    Florence,  w-ritten    in    Northumbria  about   the 
year  700  ;'  and  in  the  Durham  Book,"  written  at 
Lindisfarne    about     700.     Perhaps     the     earliest 
instance,  however,  of  their  occurrence  in  miniature 
is  the  Verona  Psalter  (v-vii  century).'"  The  Durham 
Book  is  known  to  have  been  copied — at  least  so 
far  as  the  prefatory  matter  is  concerned — from  a 
manuscript  emanating  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Naples  ;  and  though  the  purely  decorative  orna- 
ment in  this  beautiful  and  famous  book  is  distinctly 
Celtic,  the  full-page  miniatures  of  the  Evangelists 
are  of  a  different  character,  and   their  composi- 
tions were  doubtless  inspired  by  the  corresponding 
paintings  in  the  Neapolitan  archetype.     There  is 
one  very  curious  feature  about  these  four  pages. 
The  figures  of  the  Evangelists  are  inscribed  '  O 
agios    Mattheus,'  '  O  agios  Marcus,'  and  so  on  ; 
while  the  emblems  bear  the  inscriptions  'imago 
hominis,' '  imago  leonis,'  etc.     The  former  legends 
prove  incontestably  the  Greek  parentage  of  the  por- 
traits.    May  we  not  regard  the  latter  as  affording 
equally  good  evidence  of  a  Latin  origin  for  the 
emblems  ?  In  short,  my  suggestion  is  that  the  idea 
of  depicting  the  emblems  occurred  first  to  an  Italian 
artist ;  that  he  and  his  earliest  imitators  used  them 
as  symbols  or  substitutes  for  the  figures  of  the 
Evangelists  (it  is  thus  that  we  find  them  in  the 
Trivulzio  diptych  and  the  Naples  mosaic) ;    and 
that  their  later  use  as  adjuncts  or  attributes  arose 

■■  Migne  XXV.  21,  xxvi.  19. 

=  Molinier,  '  Hist.  gen.  des  Arts,'  i,  1S9G,  pi.  6. 

"  Garrucci,  '  Storia  della  Arte  cristiana,'  iv,  1877,  tav.  270 ; 
'  L'Arte,'  1S9S,  pp.  325-7;  '  Nuovo  BuUettino  di  Archeologia 
cristiana,'  1900,  pp.  99—106. 

•Corpus  2S6,  see  Palaeogr  See,  ser.  i,  pll.  33,44. 

'Gariucci,  iii,  tav.  141  :  Pal.  Soc,  ii.tj. 

»Biit.  Mus  ,  Cotton  MS.  Nero  D  iv,  fully  described  by  Dr 
G.  F.  Warner,  'Illuminated  MSS.  in  the  Brit.  Mus..'  1903. 

1"  Goldschmidt  in  '  Repert.  f.  Kunstw.'  xiciii  pp.  265  if. 


TWiP    WIN'GS  OF   A   TRIPTYCH    BY  THE   MAITRE    DR    FI.EMAI.LF 
AND   ST.    BARBARA    READING.      IX   THE    PRADO 


HENRICrS   WEKLIS   WITH  ST.    JOHN    THE  BAPTIST 


/6^ 


THE   ANNUNCIATION,    POSSIBLY   AFTER   AN   ORIGINAL 
BY  THE    MaItRE    DE    FLl^MALLE.      IN    THE     I.OLVRE 


A    L(.)ST   AI.TARPIKCE    BY   THE   MAITRE    DE   FI.KMALLE 


,6^ 


2: 

E- 


from  an  Italian  (perhaps  Neapolitan)  miniaturist 
combining  the  Latin  emblem  with  the  Greek  por- 
trait on  one  page,  giving  to  each  its  own  inscription 
as  he  found  it.  There  would  be  nothing  improb- 
able in  the  presence  of  a  Greek  Gospel-book  at 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

Naples  in  the  iifth,  sixth  or  seventh  century,  and 
we  know  that  at  least  one  representation  of  the 
emblems  was  actually  there  at  that  time — viz.,  the 
mosaic  which  has  survived,  though  in  a  mutilated 
state,  to  the  present  day.  J.  A,  Herbert. 


cA^  LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR  r*^ 


A    PORTRAIT   ATTRIBUTED    TO 
VELAZQUEZ 

To  the  Edilor  of  The  Burlington  Magazine. 

Sir, — Having  seen  in  No.  LV  of  The  Burling- 
ton Magazine  a  photogravure  of  A  Utile  Girl  by 
Velazquez  in  the  possession  of  Messrs.  Duveen,  I 
enclose  a  photograph  of  A  Little  /joy,  by  the  same 
artist,  trusting  that  it  may  be  of  interest  to  your 
readers  and  subscribers.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cm 
give  no  clue  as  to  whom  it  represents.  I  only 
know  that  it  was  in  my  f.unily  collection  and  is 
now  in  my  private  one.  Trusting  that  it  may 
throw  some  light  on  the  work  of  the  great  Velaz- 
quez, I  offer  it  you  for  publication. 

I  remain,  Sir,  Yours  very  truly. 

Prince  Doria  Pamphili. 

Palazzo  Doria,  Rome. 

[Owing  to  the  heavy  pressure  on  our  space  we 
have  been  compelled  to  delay  publication  of  the 
interesting  and  attractive  portrait  to  which  Prince 
Doria  Pamphili  refers.  A  reproduction  will  be 
found  on  p.  i66. — Ed.] 

THE  IDENTIFICATION  OFTHE  '  FULLER' 

COAST-SCENE   AND  SIMILAR  WORKS  BY 

TURNER 

To  the  Edilor  of  The  Burlington  Magazine. 

Sir, — It  is  now  a  rare  event  for  a  picture  by 
Turner  to  be  offered  at  auction  for  the  first  time, 
and  it  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the 
characteristic  example  that  was  brought  before  the 
public  at  Christie's  on  April  4th  was  received  with 
applause  ;  nor  that,  from  a  starting  bid  of  3,000 
guineas,  it  should  have  reached  double  that  sum 
before  the  hammer  fell.  This  work,  which  was 
catalogued  as  The  Beach  at  Hastings,  was  painted 
by  the  artist  in  his  full  vigour,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
five,  being  signed  in  full  and  dated  1810,  and  was 
purchased  from  him  by  the  patron,  Mr.  John 
Fuller,  of  Rose-Hill  Park,  for  whom  he  produced 
so  many  lovely  water-colour  views  of  the  Weald 
of  Sussex  five  or  six  years  later  than  that  date. 
Those  drawings,  thirteen  in  number,  were  to  have 
been  all  engraved  and  published  by  W.  B.  Cooke, 
in  either  the  '  Views  in  Sussex,'  of  which  only  one 
part  was  issued  in  1819,  or  the  '  Views  in  Hastings 
and  its  Vicinity,'  which  fell  through  entirely  for 
lack  of  subscribers.  It  is  unfortunate  that  such  a 
fine  connected  series  of  local  views  should  now 
have  become  dispersed,  at  the  same  sale,  before 
being  reproduced  together  by  photogravure  pro- 
cess for  modern  publication. 

The  oil  painting  is  specially  worthy  of  notice  as 


being  a  favourite  subject  with  Turner,  to  which  he 
returned  repeatedly  after  his  first  conception  of 
The  Sun  Rising  tliroiigli  Vapour  in  1807,  the  large- 
scale  work  (52  X  70)  in  the  National  Gallery.  When 
first  exhibited  at  the  Academy  the  artist  added  to 
his  description  of  that  famous  work.  Fishermen 
Cleaning  and  Selling  Fish,  which  he  altered  to 
zvith  Fishermen  Landing  and  Cleaning  their  Fish 
when  hung  at  the  British  Institution  two  years 
later;  while  he  varied  the  small  replica  (27x40) 
which  he  painted  for  Mr.  Fawkes  into  a  Sicnset : 
Sussex  Coast.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Turner  would 
never  repeat  himself  in  his  work.  For  Mr.  Gillott 
he  painted  three  such  coast  scenes,  which  were 
sold  at  his  sale  in  1872  for  1,100,  270  and  300 
guineas  respectively,  the  first  being  entitled 
Hastings  Beach  :  the  Fish  Market.  For  Mr.  Fawkes 
he  also  executed  a  water-colour  drawing,  which 
he  called  Fish  Market,  English  Coast,  and  other 
similar  drawings  were  once  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  John  P\arnworth  (of  Woolton,  near  Liverpool), 
and  of  Mr.  Griffiths  (of  Norwood)  ;  while,  finally, 
he  painted  his  largest  canvas  of  the  subject  (60  x  84) 
imder  the  title.  Fishing  Boats,  ivith  Hncksters  Bar- 
gaining for  Fish,  which  was  in  the  British  Institu- 
tion exhibition  of  1838. 

Mr.  Fuller's  picture,  which  has  just  been  sold  by 
his  descendant.  Sir  Alexander  Acland-Hood,  is  a 
'Kit-cat'  (the  actual  sight  measurement  is  35  by 
47),  and  when  lent  to  the  International  Exhibition 
in  1862  the  title  was  Hastings  sea-coast;  but  there 
are  no  means  whatever  by  which  one  can  decide  as 
to  the  locality.  It  was  painted  about  the  same  time 
as  Bligh  Sand,  which,  although  not  shown  at  the 
Academy  until  1815,  was  included  in  a  catalogue 
of  the  works  in  the  artist's  gallery  which  he  printed 
in  the  year  1809,  as  '  No.  7.  Fishing  npon  the  Blythe 
Sand,  Tide  setting  in '  ;  that  canvas  is  of  the  same 
size  precisely,  but  about  seventy  of  his  pictures 
were  variations  of  three  feet  by  four  feet.  As  this 
picture  does  not  appear  in  the  1809  catalogue,  we 
may  presume  that  it  was  not  painted  before  the 
date  it  bears,  though  most  probably  it  did  not 
pass  into  Mr.  Fuller's  possession  before  1815. 
It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  name  Hastings 
should  have  ever  been  attached  to  the  work,  there 
being  no  indication  of  the  '  sea-coast '  of  that  place, 
n(jr  any  resemblance  to  its  '  beach.'  The  shore 
here  is,  in  fact,  a  level  sand  without  any  shingle, 
and  it  might  be  either  near  Bligh-sand  or  Margate  ; 
which  recalls  the  fact  that  the  Fish-market  on  the 
Sands:  the  Sun  rising  through  Vaponr  {t,^  x  44), 
exhibited  in   1830,  and   now  in   the  collection   of 

167 


Letters  to  the  Editor 


Mr.  Edward  Chapman,  is  said  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Bell 
to  have  been  sometimes  called  The  Sliorc  at  Margate. 

Certain  it  is,  however,  that  Turner  gave  the 
name  Fish  Market  at  Hastings  to  an  important 
water-colour  drawing  (17^  x  265),  which  he  lent 
to  Mr.  W.  B.  Cooke,  the  engraver  and  publisher,  for 
his  exhibition  in  1824,  and  which  he  afterwards 
presented  to  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle.  That  drawing 
was  sold  in  1858,  and  it  has  been  confused  in  Mr. 
Bell's  list  with  the  oil  painting  sold  in  the  Gillott 
sale  of  1872,  already  referred  to  ;  while,  on  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Finberg,  it  is  stated  to  be  now  in 
the  collection  of  Mr.  G.  W.  Vanderbilt,  in  New 
York. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought  unnecessary  for  so 
many  pictures  and  drawings  to  have  been  thus 
briefly  referred  to  in  this  connexion  ;  but  there 
has  been  so  much  confusion  caused  by  the  fre- 
quent variation  in  titles  given  at  different  times  to 
Turner's  works  in  general  that  it  has  become 
extremely  difficult  to  identify  them  and  to  trace 
their  pedigree   correctly.    This   difficulty   is   fre- 


quently intensified,  instead  of  cleared,  by  the 
descriptions  given  in  what  should  be  reliable 
catalogues.  In  illustration  of  this  objection  it  is 
surprising  to  find  that  in  the  Christie  sale  cata- 
logue the  spectator's  '  right '  and  '  left '  are  through- 
out reversed,  thus  falsifying  the  compositions  of 
(he  pictures  entirely,  and  upsetting  the  identifi- 
cation of  the  works  in  question.  Another  instance 
of  erroneous  description  may  also  be  appropiately 
mentioned  here.  In  the  sale  catalogue  of  April 
30th,  1904,  an  oil  picture  on  panel  (10  x  14) 
called  '  Hastings,'  attributed  to  Turner,  was  really 
a  copy  of  the  oil  painting  (11  X  i4)of '  LyiiieRegis ' 
which  was  engraved  in  the  '  Southern  Coast '  series. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  more  care  is  not 
exercised,  both  in  regard  to  the  titles  and  the 
descriptions  of  pictures  and  drawings  ;  and  also 
in  the  measurements,  which  are  very  frequently 
given  incorrectly,  and  therefore  become  misleading 
as  important  data  for  precise  identification. 
I  am,  Sir,  etc., 

William  White. 


^  ART  BOOKS  OF  THE  MONTH  cKp 


ART    HISTORY 

Manuel  d'Art  Musulman.  Two  volumes :  (1) 
L' Architecture,  par  H.  Saladin  ;  (2)  Les  Arts 
Plastiques  et  Industriels,  par  Gaston  Migeon. 
Paris  :  Picard,  1907.  15  francs  each. 
These  volumes,  containing  together  upwards  of 
1,000  pages,  mark  a  very  distinct  advance  in  the 
study  of  Muslim  art,  and  that  by  reason  no  less 
of  their  detail  than  of  their  comprehensiveness. 
For  the  first  time  we  have  a  systematic  attempt  to 
examine,  compare  and  correlate  the  geographically 
far-sundered  artistic  products  of  Islam — to  trace 
the  history  and  development  of  its  artistic  spirit 
through  all  its  manifestations.  The  task  is  an 
immense  one  ;  and  MINI.  Saladin  and  Migeon 
deserve  the  warmest  recognition  of  the  time,  labour 
and  skill  devoted  to  this  manual,  which  must  take 
its  place  at  once  as  a  most  valuable  work  of 
reference  for  students.  This  it  cannot  fail  to  be, 
and  no  criticisms  which  we  may  feel  compelled 
to  make  will  seriously  qualify  this  judgment  upon 
the  book.  With  every  division  of  the  subject  is 
given  a  bibliography,  which  is  most  useful,  though 
the  authorities  given  are  not  always  the  best,  and 
a  doubt  is  suggested  whether  the  authors  are 
acquainted  with  Arabic,  and  in  M.  Saladin's  case 
even  with  English. 

M.  Saladin  treats  in  his  volume  on  Architecture 
of  five  great  schools,  which  he  calls  (i)  Syro- 
Egyptian  —  Syria,  Egypt  and  Arabia  ;  (2) 
Moorish — Algeria,  Morocco,  Spain  and  Sicily  ; 
('3)  Persian  —  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Armenia, 
etc.;  (4)  Ottoman — Asia  Minor  and  Constanti- 
nople ;  and  (5)  India.  Each  of  these  schools  is 
considered  in  respect  of  religious,  civil  and  military 

168 


architecture  ;  and  it  is  little  wonder  if  M.  Saladin 
complams  that  he  had  greatly  to  compress  his 
material ;  the  wonder  rather  is  that  he  has  put 
together  so  much  in  so  small  a  compass.  His 
history  is  not  always  good  :  he  relies  too  much  on 
authors  like  Le  Bon,  quoting,  for  example,  his 
most  inaccurate  statement  that  the  effect  of  the 
first  contact  of  Islam  with  earlier  civilizations  was 
to  galvanize  their  last  remains.  Nor  is  M.  Saladin 
very  happy  in  his  general  theorizing  upon  the 
origins  of  Muslim  architecture.  He  rightly 
gives  Persia,  Egypt  and  Spain  as  the  three  poles  of 
Muslim  art;  but  in  attributing  the  strong  local 
colour  in  each  case  to  the  fact  that  all  three 
countries  had  strong  artistic  traditions,  which 
clever  workers  were  ready  to  revive,  he  goes  too  far. 
In  Persia  and  Egypt  the  traditions  and  the  practice 
of  the  arts  were  alive  and  needed  no  revival,  indeed 
Islam  did  much  to  destroy  both  Graeco-Roman 
and  Pharaonic  monuments  in  Egypt ;  while  in 
Spain  neither  any  great  tradition  nor  any  highly 
skilled  craft  existed  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries.  So,  too,  it  seems  a  sort  of  obsession 
with  M.  Saladin  to  derive  nearly  all  forms  of 
architectural  decoration  from  textiles.  He  thinks 
that  wall-tiles  were  suggested  by  textile  hangings, 
that  pillars  hung  with  embroidery  inspired  the 
treatment  of  the  small  columns  in  the  sebil  of 
Kait  Bey  in  Cairo,  and  he  even  traces  the  richly 
carved  designs  on  the  arcading  at  S.  Sophia  to  a 
motive  from  embroidery  or  jewellery.  This  kind  of 
of  theory  is  too  fanciful — even  fantastic — to  be 
helpful  in  determining  the  evolution  of  Muslim 
art ;  and  a  scientific  study  of  that  subject  has  still 
to   be   made.     But    for  such   a   study   the   facts 


Art  History 


which  M.  Saladin  amasses,  both  from  his  own 
wide  travels  and  researches  and  from  the  work 
of  others,  are  invaluable.  The  range  which  he 
covers  is  astonishing,  and  the  minuteness  of  his 
descriptions,  as  well  as  the  profusion  of  his  plans 
and  illustrations,  gives  him  a  strong  claim  to  the 
admiration  and  the  gratitude  of  all  workers  in  the 
same  field. 

Even  more  unqualified  praise  may  be  given  to 
M.  Migeon's  volume  on  the  industrial  and  plastic 
arts.  As  he  says,  the  neglect  of  Muslim  art  as  a 
whole  is  incredible  ;  and  he  strongly  insists  on  the 
need  for  a  Chair  of  Muslim  Art  and  Archaeology 
in  connexion  with  one  of  the  existing  schools  of 
Oriental  Languages.  That  is  an  idea  which  one 
of  our  English  Universities  might  well  borrow  :  it 
is  an  idea  which  M.  Migeon's  work  will  certainly 
do  much  to  forward,  whether  it  be  first  realized  in 
France,  Germany,  or  England.  Limits  of  space 
forbid  any  detailed  examination  of  M.  Migeon's 
learned  review  of  Mohammedan  miniature  paint- 
ing, sculpture,  mosaics,  wood-carving,  ivories, 
metal-work,  ceramics,  glass  and  crystal.  In  all 
these  branches  of  art  the  author  gathers  together 
and  illustrates  the  most  important  known  examples; 
and  the  theories  he  formulates  are  stated  with 
reserve  and  caution,  as  becomes  a  writer  conscious 
that  a  vast  amount  of  study  is  still  required  before 
the  great  problems  of  his  subject  can  be  solved. 
Forexample,take  the  tenth-century  Spanishablution 
tank,  frankly  Byzantine  in  character,  yet  bearing 
a  Cufic  inscription.  Was  the  artist  a  Christian  or 
a  Muslim  by  race  ?  Is  his  work  Muslim  at  all  ? 
and,  more  generally,  when  in  Persia,  Egypt,  and 
Spain,  did  Muslim  art  cease  to  learn  and  to  copy  ? 
When  did  it  begin  to  design  and  to  teach  ? 
No  simple  or  single  answer  can  be  given  to  such 
questions.  On  the  subject  of  mosaics  the  discus- 
sion of  origins  is  quite  inadequate  ;  indeed,  the 
whole  chapter  is  too  short,  and  it  contains  no 
mention  of  glass  mosaic  in  Cairo.  The  attribution 
of  fig.  98  (Minbar  at  Sidi  Okba)  to  a  time  long 
anterior  to  Egyptian  woodwork  is  very  doubtful ; 
it  contains  characteristically  Egyptian  mushrabiah 
work — probably  of  thirteenth  century — but  the 
author  associates  it  with  that  absurd  legend  dating 
the  tiles  in  the  same  mosque  ninth  century — a 
legend  for  which  M.  Saladin  is  responsible,  and 
which  has  been  completely  refuted  in  this  maga- 
zine.' The  same  mistake  must  be  pointed  out  on 
p.  257,  under  the  head  of  ceramics.  The  only 
other  specimen  of  so-called  ninth-century  lustre 
ware  given  by  M.  Migeon  is  the  dish  on  p.  258, 
but  no  evidence  whatever  is  furnished  for  the  date. 
Again,  on  p.  259  the  author's  want  of  acquaintance 
with  Arabic   leads  him  to   speak  of  Vacoub,  the 

'  See  under  '  Letters  to  the  Editor  '  in  the  numbers  for  Sep- 
tember, October  and  November,  1907,  the  correspondence 
between  Mr.  Van  de  Put  and  Dr.  A.  J.  Butler.  Vol.xi,  pp.  391-2, 
Vol.  xii,  pp.  48,  107. 


geographer,  instead  of  Yakut — a  mistake  which 
has  slipped  even  into  the  catalogue  of  the  Burling- 
ton Fine  Arts  Club  Exhibition  of  1907.  How- 
ever, the  chapter  on  ceramics  on  the  whole  is  an 
admirable  piece  of  work,  and  the  great  number 
of  dated  specimens  it  contains  give  it  an  excep- 
tional value.  Admirable  also  are  the  chapters 
dealing  with  metalwork  and  enamelled  glass. 
Indeed,  the  richness  and  variety  of  Muslim  art 
products  as  disclosed  in  this  volume  will  be  a 
revelation  to  most  people.  One  could  wish  that 
for  so  many  forms  of  art  M.  Migeon  was  less 
inclined  to  rest  on  the  theory  of  a  '  Mesopotamian 
origin ' — thrice  blessed  as  the  word  Mesopotamia 
is  by  most  authorities.  But  that  the  origins  of 
faience  are  nearer  geographically  and  more  remote 
historically  than  has  been  generally  allowed  seems 
no  longer  doubtful  after  the  extraordinary  dis- 
coveries at  Knossos  of  glazed  and  coloured  ware, 
held  by  Dr.  Arthur  Evans  to  date  from  2,000  B.C. 
But  it  would  be  equally  unfair  and  ungracious 
not  to  recognize  to  the  fullest  the  debt  which  all 
Oriental  scholars  owe  to  the  accomplished  authors 
of  this  book.  The  debt  would  be  greater  if  to 
both  volumes  were  added  a  fuller  and  more 
scientific  index. 

NiEDERLANDISCHES       KiJNSTLER     LEXIKON     AUF 

Grund  archivalischer  Forschungen 
bearbeitet  von  Dr.  A.  von  Wurzb.\ch.  2^ 
Band.  5'*  und  6''^  Lieferungen.  Wien,  1907. 
These  two'  fascicles  bring  the  notices  of  artists 
down  to  Rembrandt ;  those  of  fifteenth  century 
painters  are  as  a  rule  followed  by  a  long  list  of 
paintings  attributed  to  them  by  one  or  other  critic, 
many  without  any  docuinentary  evidence  (see 
for  example  A.  van  Ouwater,  Patenir,  Prevost); 
it  is  well  that  these  should  be  recorded,  if  only  as 
a  warning  to  future  writers,  but  one  cannot  help 
thinking  how  much  more  useful  it  would  be  to 
examine  thoroughly  the  immense  number  of 
documents  that  have  yet  to  be  dealt  with,  although, 
as  the  present  writer  knows  too  well,  such  research 
does  not  meet  with  much  encouragement.  The 
bibliographical  references  are  generally  fairly  com- 
plete, but  in  the  case  of  Adrian  van  Overbeke, 
neither  H.  Keussen,  '  Der  Meister  des  Schreins  am 
Hauptaltare  in  de  Pfarrkirche  zu  Kempen  '(Bonn), 
nor  the  notice  in  P.  Clemen's  'Kunstdenkrnalcrdes 
Kreises  Kempen  '  (Diisseldorf,  1891),  p.  62-65,  is 
mentioned.  Van  Overbeke,  like  several  of  his 
contemporaries  at  Antwerp,  did  not  confine 
himself  to  painting  pictures,  but  also  undertook  the 
execution  of  carved  and  polychromed  oak 
statues  and  altar  reredoses ;  for  one  of  the  latter, 
which  still  adorns  the  high  altar  of  the  church 
at  Kempen,  he  received  a  commission,  nth 
August,  1513,  from  the  confraternity  of  Saint  Anne 
for  the  sum  of  three  hundred  gold  florins.  The 
central  sculptured  portion,  polychromed,  represents 

169 


Art  History 


subjects  from  tlie  life  of  Christ  ;  the  shutters, 
painted,  scenes  from  the  story  of  Saint  Anne  ; 
above  the  reredos  is  a  polychromed  statue  of  that 
saint.  At  the  back  of  the  central  portion  is  the  Last 
Judgment  painted  by  another  hand.  Albert 
Duerer  in  the  diary  of  his  journey  to  the  Nether- 
lands mentions  a  Master  Adrian  whose  portrait  he 
drew  ;  this  may  possibly  be  Van  Overbeke  ^  On 
5th  March,  152 1,  Van  Overbeke  was  summoned 
before  the  magistrates  for  having  been  present  at 
a  Protestant  sermon,  and  on  the  19th  he  with  two 
other  painters  and  a  sculptor  were  again  brought 
up  on  a  similar  charge, when  they  were  admonished 
and  dismissed.  On  the  26th,  Van  Overbeke  was 
again  in  trouble,  this  time  for  having  publicly 
read  and  expounded  the  Scriptures,  and  was 
sentenced  to  leave  the  town  before  sunset  and  to 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  Wilsenaken,  and  in  default 
to  suffer  the  loss  of  his  right  hand.  In  1529  he 
painted  an  altar-piece  for  the  chapel  of  Saint 
Joseph  in  the  church  of  Kempen  ;  this  was  taken 
away  in  1662  to  Kaiserwerth. 

As  to  Joachim  Patenir,  there  may  possibly  be 
some  truth  in  C.  van  Mander's  statement  that  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  signing  his  paintings  with  a 
little  figure  of  a  man,  apparently  a  play  on  his 
name.  In  the  print-room  of  the  British  Museum 
there  is  a  drawing  by  John  De  Beer  of  Antwerp, 
1504-1536 — probably  the  painter  of  the  altar-piece 
at  Lierre  and  of  the  Richmond  Saint  Katlicrinc  and 
the  philosophers — on  the  back  of  which  are 
Patenir's  name  (signature  ?)  and  the  little  man. 
I  have  discovered  him  in  two  paintings  in  the 
Prado  Gallery  :  Tlie  Holy  Fainilv  resting  on 
the  icay  to  Egypt  and  Tlie  Elysian  fields  and 
Tartarus  ;  and  he  may  possibly  be  found  in  others, 
but  like  the  owl  in  pamtings  by  Bles,  he  is  generally 
difficult  to  find.  The  sheet  of  paper  with  the 
figures  of  Saint  Christopher  given  to  Patenir  by 
Duerer  is  now  in  the  possession  of  M.  Henry 
Duval  of  Liege.  The  Bruges  goldsmith,  John 
Pcutin  or  Puetin — not  Pentin,  one  of  Laborde's 
many  misreadings — made  the  enamelled  collars 
given  to  the  first  twenty-five  members  of  the  Order 
of  the  Golden  Fleece.^ 

Peter,  son  of  John  Pourbus  or  Poerbus  (pounce- 
box)  of  Gouda,  was  born  c.  1512  ;  it  is  not  known 
where  he  served  his  apprenticeship.  He  came  to 
Bruges  about  1538  and  probably  worked  under 
Lancelot  Blondeel  whose  daughter  Anne  he 
married  in  1544.  He  was  admitted  as  free-master 
into  the  gild  of  Saint  Luke,  August  26,  1543  ; 
was  a  member  of  its  council    for  the  first  time, 

' '  Item  hab  meister  Adrian  mit  den  koh'n  conterfet.''Tagebncli 
ed.  Leitschuh  '  p.  63.  In  another  entry  (p.  76)  he  mentions  Sir 
Adrian, '  herr  Adrian,'  certainly  the  secretary  of  the  municipality, 
but  as  in  another  (p.  77)  he  calls  tlie  latter  '  maister  Adrian,  der 
von  Antorff  secretary,'  it  may  probably  be  he  whose  portrait  he 
drew. 

■■* '  Compte  de  la  Recette  Generale  de  Flandre,'i432,  fol.  ccxiv. 
Archives  of  the  Department  of  the  North,  Lille. 

170 


not  in  1552  but  in  1550,  and  held  the  office 
of  dean  in  1569-70  and  1580-82.  He  may  have 
travelled  in  Italy,  and  probably  did,  but  if  so,  it 
must  have  been  prior  to  his  settling  in  Bruges. 
He  was  a  very  gifted  and  many  sided  man  ;  as  a 
cartographer  he  has  seldom  been  surpassed  ;  his 
portraits  are  remarkably  fine  ;  his  religious  com- 
positions generally  show  Italian  influence,  but  he 
was  a  great  admirer  of  his  Netherlandish  prede- 
cessors, especially  of  Memlinc,  David  and  Isen- 
brant,  for  some  of  whose  works  he  painted  shutters 
not  unworthy  of  them.  Of  his  allegorical  com- 
positions there  is  a  remarkable  example  in  the 
Wallace  collection,  formerly  in  that  of  William  II., 
king  of  Holland.  John  Prevost,  the  painter  of  the 
Last  Judgment  in  the  Bruges  museum,  was  not  a 
Fleming,  but  a  native  of  Mons  in  Hainault,  and 
in  all  the  earlier  documents  his  name  is  thus 
written  ;  it  would  therefore  be  well  to  keep  to  that 
form.  The  Walloon  painters,  Campin,  Daret,  De 
la  Pasture,  Marmion,  Gossart,  Prevost,  Patenir  and 
Bles,  had  a  considerable  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Netherlandish  school,  and  the  attempt 
to  hide  this  by  always  employing  the  Flemish 
equivalents  of  their  names  is  quite  as  indefensible 
as  the  late  M.  Bouchot's  mania  of  claiming  the 
Flemish  artists  as  belonging  to  the  French  school. 
The  Bruges  Last  Judgmeid  of  1525  is  the  only 
painting  proved  to  be  by  Prevost,  but  many  others 
not  only  of  contemporary  and  later  masters,but  also 
of  much  earlier  date,  have  been  attributed  to  him. 
Some  critics  now  claim  to  be  able  to  show  what 
the  author  of  a  dated  work  painted  in  after  years 
and  even  to  trace  his  manner  back  to  his  early 
efforts.  When  fresh  documents  happen  to  be  dis- 
covered these  speculative  guesses  almost  always 
turn  out  to  be  wrong. 

W.  H.  J.  W. 

A  History  of  Art.  By  Dr.  G.  Carotti.  Vol.  I : 
Ancient  Art.  Revised  by  Mrs.  Arthur  Strong, 
Litt.D.  London  :  Duckworth,  5s.  net. 
A  SHORT  time  ago  we  had  occasion  to  praise  this 
volume  of  the  '  Manuali  Hoepli '  :  we  now  welcome 
it  in  English.  Miss  Todd,  the  translator,  it  is  true, 
has  kept  so  closely  to  her  original  that  her  style 
retains  something  (occasionally  not  a  little)  of  the 
rather  ponderous  complexityof  Dr.  Carotti's  Italian, 
but  the  book  on  the  whole  has  become  infinitely 
more  accessible  for  English  readers.  It  has  gained, 
too,  by  Mrs.  Strong's  super\'ision,  though  she  has 
left  Dr.  Carotti's  text  almost  untouched.  We  note 
here  and  there  additions  or  corrections  on  minor 
points  {e.g.,  the  note  on  the  Knossos  excavations) 
which  are  of  distinct  value,  and  the  defects  of  the 
book  are  few  in  comparison  with  its  merits.  The 
art  of  pre-  and  proto-dynastic  Egypt  is  incompletely 
summarized  ;  in  the  case  of  ^linoan  art,  a  brief 
outline  of  the  three  chief  periods  and  a  reference 
to    the    unique    collections    in    the    Ashmolean 


Art  History 


Museum  might  h:ive  been  added  ;  and  the  section 
on  India  is  too  sHght.  But  the  httle  book  as  a 
whole  is  an  admirable  compilation,  its  systematic 
plan  makes  it  easy  of  reference  ;  its  five  hundred 
and  forty  illustrations  are  excellently  chosen  ;  it  is 
furnished  with  a  good  bibliography  and  an  index; 
while  its  handy  form  and  modest  price  make  it  the 
most  generally  useful  introduction  to  ancient  art 
that  has  iiitherto  appeared  in  English. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Portraits  in  Suffolk  Houses  (West).  By 
Rev.  Edmund  P\urer,  F.S.A.,  Hinderclay 
Rectory,  Suffolk.  London  :  B.  Quaritch. 
1908.  L.p.,  £2  10s. ;  s.p.,  25s. 
Dr.  Johnson,  vvho  is  seldom  reckoned  as  an  art 
critic,  speaking  of  his  friend,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
said,  '  I  should  grieve  to  see  Reynolds  transfer  to 
heroes  and  to  goddesses,  to  empty  splendour  and 
to  airy  fiction,  that  art  which  is  now  employed  in 
diffusing  friendship,  in  renewing  tenderness,  in 
quickening  the  affections  of  the  absent,  and  con- 
tinuing the  presence  of  the  dead.'  On  another 
occasion  the  same  great-hearted  sage  said  of 
portraits  that  'Every  man  is  always  present  to 
himself,  and  has,  therefore,  little  need  of  his  own 
resemblance  ;  nor  can  desire  it  but  for  the  sake  of 
those  whom  he  loves,  and  by  whom  he  hopes  to 
be  remembered.  This  use  of  the  art  is  a  natural 
and  reasonable  consequence  of  affection,  and 
though,  like  other  human  actions,  it  is  often  com- 
plicated with  pride,  yet  even  such  pride  is  more 
laudable  than  that  by  which  palaces  are  covered 
with  pictures,  that,  however  excellent,  neither 
imply  the  owner's  virtue  nor  excite  it.'  In  these 
words  Dr.  Johnson  strikes  a  special  note  in  the 
history  of  the  British  race,  that  justifiable  pride  in 
one's  own  self  which  is  derived  from  the  example 
of  our  forefathers  and  is  intended  to  benefit 
posterity,  and  which  takes  its  concrete  form  in 
family  portraits. 

Family  portraits  are  a  characteristic  part  of 
family  life  in  this  country,  and  serve  to  accentuate 
the  value  of  home  and  family  with  their  inherent 
liabilities,  as  opposed  to  the  mere  individualism  of 
the  moment.  The  idea  involved  in  membership 
of  a  family  is  one  which  prevails  strongly  through- 
out England  even  in  these  days,  when  the  lines  of 
demarcation  between  the  landed  gentry  and  the 
people  become  day  by  day  less  strongly  marked. 
Many  houses  to  this  day  preserve  within  their 
walls  portraits  of  their  former  owners,  their  wives 
and  children,  and  others  whose  lives  were  bound 
up  with  the  old  place,  or  with  the  history  of  the 
country  or  locality,  and  in  the  company  of  which 
each  successive  owner  hopes  to  be  remembered 
by  his  own  posterity.  It  is  true  that  few  branches 
of  the  painter's  art  have  been  so  much  neglected 
by  art  critics  and  art  historians  as  family  portraits, 
the  reason   being  that,  as  a  sense  of  duty  rather 


than  mere  personal  vanity  has  often  been  the 
prevailing  cause,  the  portraits  in  themselves  do 
not  in  the  majority  of  cases  attain  to  any  high 
position  of  artistic  merit. 

Such  portraits  are  however  a  study  in  them- 
selves, and  any  student,  who  cares  to  detach 
himself  from  the  contemplation  or  dissection  of 
masterpieces  will  find  in  family  portraits  a  fruit- 
ful field  of  research.  He  can  learn  from  these 
portraits  the  rise  of  a  particular  family,  and  the 
distinction  conferred  upon  it  by  the  success  of  any 
particular  member  of  the  family.  He  will  be  able 
to  trace  the  existence  of  local  schools  of  artists, 
swayed  as  to  fashion  by  the  leading  artists  of  the 
great  world  in  London,  and  painting  in  the  man- 
ner of  Lely,  Kneller  or  Lawrence,  as  the  caprices 
of  society  might  from  time  to  time  dictate.  He 
can  study  the  vagaries  of  costume,  and  the  pre- 
valence of  convention,  such  as  the  'fancy  dress 
which  was  frequently  painted  on  the  canvas  before 
the  arrival  of  the  sitter.'  In  all  such  studies  he 
will  find  an  intelligent  and  useful  guide  in  the 
Rev.  Edmund  Farrer,  whose  book  on  Suffolk 
portraits  is  before  us  now. 

It  is  only  a  few  years  since  at  the  Congress  of 
Archaeological  Societies  in  London  a  scheme  was 
mooted,  carried  and  put  into  execution  for 
obtaining  some  kind  of  record  of  the  innumerable 
portraits  existing  in  country  houses,  colleges, 
public  institutions  and  elsewhere  in  this  country. 
In  far  too  many  cases  the  care  of  these  portraits 
has  been  sadly  neglected,  and,  although  there  are 
many  houses  where  the  family  portraits  have  been 
duly  cared  for  and  the  names  preserved,  there  are 
too  many  in  which  such  portraits  have  been  treated 
as  mere  worthless  or  just  tolerable  furniture,  the 
names  in  most  cases  lost,  and  the  pictures  them- 
selves allowed  to  go  to  decay.  The  scheme,  how- 
ever, was  fruitful  of  but  scanty  result. 

Mr.  Farrer's  book  is  evidence  in  itself  of  the 
expenditure  of  time  and  trouble,  to  say  nothing  of 
more  material  expenses,  which  must  be  incurred  in 
any  exhaustive  and  scientific  attempt  to  enumerate 
the  portraits  in  any  given  part  of  the  country. 
Mr.  Farrer's  industry  has  been  phenomenal.  In 
house  after  house  he  has  not  only  noted  the  por 
traits  in  the  drawing-room,  but  has  descended  into 
the  parlour,  as  Horace  Walpole  describes,  to  find 
my  father's  and  mother's  pictures,  and  then 
climbed  upstairs  to  search  after  my  grandfather 
and  grandmother,  and  as  many  generations 
back  as  the  staircases  and  passages  may  reveal.  The 
result  is  a  book  of  peculiar  interest  for  historical, 
local  and  artistic  purposes.  In  view  of  the 
difficulty  attending  such  researches  it  would  be 
ungracious  to  criticize  the  form  or  language,  to 
seek  for  inaccuracies  or  omissions.  The  mere 
fact  that  this  one  portion  of  Suffolk  should  include 
the  portraits  in  such  important  houses  as  Barton 
Hall,   Culford  Hall,  Euston  Hall,  Hengrave  Hall 

171 


Miscellaneous 


and  Ickwoith   is  sufficient  to  denote  the   value  of 
the  book  as  a  work  of  reference. 

Mr.  Farrer  may  be  congratulated  on  completing 
this  portion  of  the  catalogue  of  the  Suffolk 
portraits.  Tlie  illustrations  in  themselves  add 
value  to  the  book,  and  are  no  inconsiderable  addi- 
tion to  the  art  history  of  the  nation.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  he  will  see  his  way  to  complete  the  work 
by  cataloguing  the  remaining  portraits  in  East 
Suffolk.  L.  C. 

Heraldry  as  Art.  An  account  of  its  develop- 
ment and  practice,  chiefly  in  England.  By 
G.  W.  Eve.  Batsford.  12s.  6d.  net. 
There  are  already  so  many  little  heraldry  books 
that  a  newcomer  needs  more  excuse  than  we  can 
find  for  this  one  of  Mr.  Eve's.  As  a  popular 
engraver  and  designer  of  book-plates  and  the  like 
Mr.  Eve  has  some  tricks  of  craft  which  his  fellows 
may  study  to  their  advantage.  But  through  the 
most  part  of  a  book  written  with  a  somewhat  heavy 
pen  we  must  read  again  the  familiar  compilation 
from  well-known  works — a  compilation  unen- 
lightened by  original  study,  and  with  a  liberal 
share  of  its  forerunners'  mistakes. 

No  antiquary,  and  having,  therefore,  to  take  his 
archaeology  at  second-hand,  Mr.  Eve  falls  under 
the  curse  which  the  learned  Woodward,  in  putting 
forward  his  '  Heraldry,  British  and  Foreign,'  pro- 
nounced upon  all  the  host  of  the  '  freebooting 
compilers'  who  borrow  without  acknowledgment. 
The  curse  fulfils  itself,  for  the  borrower  borrows 
without  judgment,  and  the  lack  of  original  study 
is  soon  betrayed.  In  his  first  pages  Mr.  Eve  warns 
the  antiquary  that  he  need  adventure  no  further. 
'  In  Europe,'  writes  Mr.  Eve,  'heraldry  began  to 
be  systematized  (as  we  know  it)  somewhere  about 
the  eleventh  century.'  Seeing  that  archaeologists 
have  as  yet  found  in  the  eleventh  century  no  trace 
of  any  use  of  heraldic  forms,  Mr.  Eve's  opinion 
on  their  systematization  seems  of  little  value.  Let 
us  finish  his  sentence  :  ' .  .  .  it  flourished  exceed- 
ingly until  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  period  thus  indicated  being  that  of  its 
greatest  strength  and  beauty.'  Here  the  student  of 
decorative  art  may  slap  the  book  cover  and  follow 
the  antiquary.  These  things  are  but  matters  of 
taste,  but  we  have  here  an  authority  that  would 
lump  the  commonplace  devices  of  the  mid-fifteen- 
hundreds,  when  heraldry  was  dead  as  stockfish, 
with  all  the  live  and  brave  fancies  of  the  middle 
ages. 

Not  a  Jack  o'  lantern  flits  but  Mr.  Eve  follows 
it.  The  curious  belief  that  heraldic  charges  began 
in  some  fashion  as  symbols  of  virtues  or  qualities 
has  seized  him.  '  Not  heraldry  alone,  but  every 
part  of  a  knight's  armour  has  a  mystic  meaning, 
the  knowledge  of  which  was  an  important  part  of 
a  knight's  education.'  In  support  of  this  fantasy 
we   are    referred    to   passages   in    the   'Order   of 

172 


Chivalry.'  Long  before  Caxton's  day,  a  Roman 
citizen  explained  the  symbolism  of  the  breastplate 
of  righteousness  and  the  helmet  of  salvation,  but  a 
knowledge  of  his  explanation  was  not,  we  take  it, 
an  essential  part  of  the  education  of  a  Roman 
centurion.  When  we  have  said  that  heraldry 
begins  as  a  system  of  arbitrarily  chosen  devices  to 
be  worn  on  coat  and  shield  we  have  said  all  that 
we  know.  Putting  aside  charges  that  pun  upon 
the  bearer's  name,  the  most  are  barren  of  significa- 
tion. Red  chevrons  on  an  earl  of  Gloucester's 
shield  and  the  red  triangle  on  a  bottle  of  pale  ale 
have  the  same  idea  behind  them  ;  they  are  there 
that  you  should  know  the  great  chief  of  Clare  in 
the  press  of  knights  and  Bass  amongst  strange 
beers.  Yet  another  and  a  persistent  legend  is 
handed  on  by  Mr.  Eve  from  his  masters,  the  belief 
that  'many  mediaeval  bearings' commemorate  some 
deed  of  renown.  So  rare  are  such  cases  that  Mr. 
Eve  cannot  cite  a  mediaeval  example,  although  he 
tells  us  of  '  the  belts  and  buckles  of  Pelham,  which 
commemorate  the  capture  of  the  French  king  at 
Poitiers.'  But  although  a  buckle  is  an  old  Pelham 
badge  of  unknown  origin,  the  shield  or  quartering 
with  '  the  belts  and  buckles  '  is  a  herald's  invention 
several  hundred  years  later  than  the  fight  at  Poitiers. 
Beside  this  legend  we  may  place  Mr.  Eve's 
opinion  that  'chiefs,  like  cantons,  were  at  first 
honorific  additions  to  pre-existing  arms.'  It  would 
be  difficult  to  wrap  up  more  misapprehension  of 
early  heraldry  in  so  short  a  sentence.  Shields 
having  a  chief  without  other  charge  are  found  in 
the  earliest  arms ;  '  cantons,'  as  distinguished  by 
Mr.  Eve  from  quarters,  belong  to  post-mediaeval 
armory  ;  and  '  honorific  additions  '  are  far  from  a 
primitive  development. 

It  does  not  profit  us  to  follow  Mr.  Eve's  specu- 
lations further.  A  glance  at  his  '  heraldic  rules ' 
shows  the  mis-named  charges  in  the  broken 
English  and  crazy  French  beloved  of  the  anti- 
quarian vulgar,  the  '  crosses  patonee '  and  the 
"  crosses  furchee,'  the  '  bordures  counter-com- 
pony,'  the  furs  of  '  counter-vair  and  counter 
potent,'  the  '  unicorns  crined '  and  the  '  lions 
salient.'  '  When  the  hind  legs  are  placed  together 
the  position  is  called  salient,'  says  Mr.  Eve.  Had 
he  seen  a  mediaeval  representation  of  the  shield  of 
any  one  of  the  two  or  three  houses  which  bore 
leaping  lions  he  could  alter  the  sentence.  Since 
we  are  among  his  lions,  let  us  remark  that 
a  beast  drawn  from  the  well-known  Percy  seal,  in 
use  during  the  early  fourteenth  century,  can  hardly 
be  a  useful  example  of  heraldic  art  at  the  '  end  of 
the  twelfth  century.'  And  before  leaving  the 
quaint  French,  scattered  so  freely  through  the 
book,  we  may  suggest  that,  before  sending  out  a 
second  edition  of  what  will  probably  remain  as  a 
standard  popular  manual,  Mr.  Eve  would  do  well 
to  persuade  some  one  familiar  with  that  language 
to  correct  for  him  such  names  as 'Violet-le-duc,' 


Miscellaneous 


'J.  R.  Planche,'  '  Grielly,'  'Amadee,'  and  'Cham- 
bery,'  and  such  words  as  '  gouttes,'  '  cabuchon  ' 
and  '  plique-a-jour.' 

Of  the  three  hundred  illustrations  too  few  deal 
with  the  fine  armory  of  the  gothic  period,  but  of 
these  there  are  enough  to  save  any  reader  from  nam- 
ing the  sixteenth  century  as  an  age  of  strength  and 
beauty,  and  beside  them  Mr.  Eve's  own  neat  designs 
of  armorial  ornament  in  copperplate  or  gesso  have  a 
Bond  Street  air.  Pugin  and  Powell's  cartoons  for 
Westminster  Palace  windows  are  curious  and 
most  interesting  examples  by  men  whose  work 
was  in  advance  of  the  taste  of  their  time,  a  Han- 
over white  horse  by  John  Powell  being  a  little 
wonder  of  vigorous  expression  simply  achieved. 
The  illustrations  from  needlework  are,  as  a  rule, 
interesting  rather  as  decoration  of  textiles  than  as 
examples  of  heraldry,  and  Mr.  Eve  is  mistaken 
in  believing  that  the  roses,  pomegranates  and 
fleurs-de-lys  covering  an  embroidered  cap  in  the 
South  Kensington  Museum  have  any  armorial 
character.  O.  B. 

D.AS  Abendmahl  des  Leonardo  da  Vinci. 
Ein  Beitrag  zur  Frage  seiner  kiinstlerischen 
Rekonstruktion.  By  Otto  Hoerth.  Leipzig  : 
Hiersemann.     1907.     M.  20. 

Upwards  of  a  century  ago  Carlo  Amoretti  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  exact  study  of  Leonardo,  and 
his  example  was  soon  followed.  The  painter 
Guiseppe  Bossi  in  '  Del  Cenacolo,'  published  in 
1810,  collected  the  records  of  his  greatest  creation, 
and  added  a  detailed  description  of  the  painting 
and  an  account  of  the  various  copies.  Bossi's 
work  served  as  the  occasion  for  Goethe's  treatise, 
which  is  the  most  noteworthy  interpretation  of  the 
artist's  thought,  and  the  two  have  been  the  starting 
points  for  subsequent  criticism.  Researches  among 
contemporary  documents  have  failed  to  yield  any 
additional  facts  of  importance.  The  raison  d'etre 
of  future  work  is  that  it  concern  itself  with  the 
mental  history,  with  the  conception  and  progress 
of  the  idea. 

This  is  the  scope  of  the  first  half  of  Herr 
Hoerth's  compendious  work.  He  has  used  the 
artistic  material  available  more  thoroughly  than 
any  preceding  writer,  and  the  result  is  to  enhance 
our  knowledge  of  the  original.  Whatever  view 
may  be  held  as  to  some  of  his  conclusions,  there 
can  be  no  difiference  of  opinion  as  to  the  zeal  and 
scholarly  conscientiousness  which  characterize  his 
work. 

The  comparison  of  preparatory  drawings  renders 
it  possible  to  trace  the  gradual  growth  of  the  con- 
ception in  Leonardo's  mind.  That  it  originated 
during  his  first  period  of  residence  in  Florence 
is  shown  by  a  drawing  in  the  Louvre  of  the  figure 
of  Christ  pointing  to  the  dish,  on  the  same  sheet 
as  various  studies  for  the  Adoration.    This  sketch 


and  the  two  studies  at  Windsor  and  Venice,  in 
each  of  which  the  hands  of  both  Christ  and  Judas 
are  stretched  out  towards  the  disii,  show  that 
Leonardo's  first  conception  was  of  the  moment 
immediately  following  the  words  of  Christ,  '  He 
that  dippeth  with  Me  in  the  dish.'  In  the  painting 
Judas  is  no  longer  isolated  as  in  the  earlier 
representations  of  the  subject.  What  then  is  the 
moment  of  action  ?  Goethe,  following  Fra  Luca 
Pacioli,  who  was  Leonardo's  companion  when  he 
left  Milan  for  Venice  in  1499,  places  it  immediately 
after  the  earlier  speech  of  Christ,  '  One  of  you  shall 
betray  Me.' 

Professor  Josef  Strz^^gowski,  in  the  'Goethe- 
Jahrbuch  '  (Bd.  17,  1896),  put  forward  the  theory 
that  the  moment  represented  is  the  same  as  in  the 
Windsor  and  Venice  sketches,  but  there  is  a  greater 
weight  of  evidence  in  support  of  Goethe's  inter- 
pretation. It  rests  on  the  statement  of  a  personal 
friend  of  the  artist  who  was  closely  associated  with 
him  soon  after  the  date  of  the  painting.  It  finds 
the  fullest  support  from  the  painting  itself.  The 
disciples  are  not  represented  as  spectators.  They 
are  all  concerned  in  the  action.  The  speech 
of  Christ  afifects  them  personally,  and  the  attitude 
of  some  of  them  is  one  of  emphatic  asseveration. 
The  attention  of  none  is  directed  to  Judas. 
The  identity  of  the  betrayer  has  not  been  revealed. 
His  left  hand  is  not  advancing  towards  the  dish 
as  the  later  theory  presupposes  ;  and  the  attitude 
of  Christ  is  inconsistent  with  the  supposition  of 
the  right  hand  being  in  movement. 

The  figure  which  Professor  Strzygowski  relies 
on  as  affording  primary  support  to  his  theory,  that 
sitting  immediately  to  the  right  of  Christ  and 
starting  back  with  hands  thrown  out  in  horror, 
does  not  seem  inconsistent  with  either  interpre- 
tation. There  is  a  preliminary  study  for  this 
figure  at  Windsor,  the  red  chalk  drawing  of  a 
head  which  is  sometimes  believed  to  be  for  a 
combatant  in  the  Anghiari  picture  but  which  a 
comparison  with  the  original  shows  to  be  a  study 
for  this  disciple. 

The  purpose  of  Herr  Hoerth's  book  is  to  inter- 
pret and  to  reconstruct — the  latter  terra  being 
applied  to  conjectures  founded  upon  the  evidence 
afforded  by  copies  and  studies  of  parts  of  the 
original.  Here  criticism  must  concern  itself 
primarily  with  the  nature  of  the  material,  and 
must  decide  whether  it  illustrates  the  progress  of 
the  artist's  conception  or  is  the  work  of  later  hands 
which  may  yet  throw  light  on  the  former  condition 
of  the  original.  The  materials  for  judgment  are 
too  intangible  for  unity  of  opinion. 

The  history  of  the  cartoons  of  separate  figures 
at  Strassburg  and  Weimar  is  admirably  told,  but 
zeal  outruns  discretion  in  the  estimate  of  the 
former.  To  regard  any  of  the  heads  at  Strassburg 
as  the  work  of  Leonardo,  if  the  claim  be  not  sub- 
stantiated, causes  their  contribution  to  an  exacter 


^73 


Miscellaneous 

knowledge  of  the  original  to  seem  less  valuable. 
These  drawings  do  not  seem  to  possess  the  quality 
of  original  work.  They  lack  altogether  the  fire, 
the  nervous  energy,  the  free,  supple  touch,  which 
characterize  undoubted  original  studies  such  as 
the  Philip  and  the  Judas  at'Windsor.  The  com- 
parative smoothness  of  execution  suggests  the 
work  of  a  copyist,  and  the  recurrence  of  such 
subsidiary  details  as  the  folds  of  the  garments 
precisely  as  in  the  painting  points  to  a  later  date 
of  execution.  It  is  improbable  that  such  details 
would  have  been  settled  before  Leonardo  was  at 
work  upon  the  painting  itself.  The  significance 
of  the  latter  fact  was  shown  by  Herr  Dehio  in  the 
Prussian  Jahrbuch  (Bd.  17,  1896).  He  believes 
that  the  drawings  were  made  by  some  immediate 
follower  of  Leonardo  in  preparation  for  a  copy, 
and  are  probably  the  earliest  reproductions  which 
exist.  As  their  author,  Herr  Dehio  suggests,  ten- 
tatively the  name  of  Boltraffio,  and  the  conjecture 
seems  a  reasonable  one.  (There  is  a  general 
similarity  of  treatment  in  two  portrait  studies  in 
the  Ambrosiana  formerly  ascribed  to  Leonardo, 
but  now  believed  to  be  by  Boltraffio.) 

The  authorship  of  the  Weimar  cartoons  is  a 
matter  of  greater  uncertainty.  That  they  are  copies 
of  those  at  Strassburg,  and  not  derived  directly 
from  the  original  painting,  is  shown  indubitably 
by  the  comparison  of  pciiiiineiiii  made  by  Herr 
Dehio  and  Herr  Hoerth.  Their  date  is  of  small 
importance,  but  the  suggestion  of  Herr  Dehio 
that  they  were  made  at  the  beginning  of  last  cen- 
tury when  the  Strassburg  cartoons  were  in 
England  is  somewhat  fantastic.  They  seem 
earlier  in  date  and  Italian  in  character  and 
technique. 

Herr  Hoerth's  book  is  a  compendium  of  facts, 
and  as  such  it  must  be  of  service  to  all  future 
students  of  Leonardo's  work.  It  is  somewhat 
lacking  in  arrangement,  and  some  parts  of  it, 
particularly  the  detailed  examination  of  the 
attitudes  of  the  figures  in  criticism  of  Professor 
Strzygowski's  theory,  show  an  excess  of  thorough- 
ness which  verges  on  redundancy. 

The  charts  showing  the  results  of  a  comparison 
of  details  in  the  various  copies  are  important  as 
helping  to  decide  questions  of  colour  and  design  ; 
but  the  most  spirited  of  these  copies,  that  by 
Cesare  Magno  in  S.  Maria  delle  Grazie  and  that 
at  Ponte  Capriasca,  fall  short  of  the  original,  even 
in  its  present  condition,  in  depth  and  profundity, 
and  this  is  a  bar  to  attempts  at  reconstruction  from 
such  material. 

Two  mistakes  in  the  book  may  be  noticed. 
Leonardo's  drawing  of  hands,  mentioned  on  p. 
180  as  in  the  Uffizi,  is  in  the  Windsor  library,  and 
the  sheet  of  studies  for  the  Adoraiion,  said  to  be 
(p.  95)  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  John  Malcolm, 
has  been  for  a  long  time  in  the  British  Museum. 

E.  McC. 


Decorative  Heraldry.  By  G.  W.  Eve. 
London  :  Bell.     6s.  net. 

Mr.  Eve's  well  illustrated  book  evidently  fills  a 
popular  need,  for  it  has  reached  its  second  edition 
— a  success  which  must  in  no  small  measure  be 
attributed  to  the  author's  skill  and  taste  as  a  heraldic 
draughtsman.  Indeed,  the  artistic  side  of  the 
subject  is  so  pleasantly  handled  that  we  question 
whether  it  was  wise  in  a  popular  book  to  attempt 
any  explanation  of  the  technicalities  of  the  science 
Such  questions,  in  practice,  have  (or  ou4ht)  to  be 
determined  by  expert  heralds.  The  business  of 
the  artist  is  only  to  make  expert  decisions  beautiful; 
to  attempt  anything  more  is  to  court  danger,  if 
not  disaster. 

The  Greater  Abbeys  of  England.  By  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Abbot  Gasquet.  Illustrations  in  Colour 
after  Warwick  Goble.  Chatto  and  Windus. 
20S.  net. 

Those  who  were  present  on  the  first  day  of  a 
certain  pageant  last  year  will  remember  a  curious 
incident.  The  promoters  of  the  pageant  (the 
object  of  which  was  to  celebrate  the  departed 
glories  of  a  famous  convent)  engaged  a  "  special 
preacher,"  who  horrified  some  and  amused  many 
by  devoting  his  sermon  to  the  vices  and  idleness 
of  the  monastic  houses.  The  publishers  of  this 
volume  have  been  too  wise  to  commit  a  similar 
mistake.  For  the  textual  description  of  the  greater 
abbeys  of  England  they  have  gone  to  the  author 
who,  of  all  others  in  England,  is  most  widely 
known  for  his  knowledge  and  love  of  these  ancient 
fabrics  and  his  sympathetic  understanding  of  the 
work  that  was  done  there.  At  the  same  time, 
Abbot  Gasquet's  work  in  the  present  instance  is 
not  controversial  in  tone.  He  tells  the  stories  of 
these  abbeys,  of  course,  from  the  point  of  view  for 
which  he  has  won  such  wide  acceptance  ;  but  he 
tells  them  in  a  spirit  calculated  to  arouse  the  gen- 
eral reader's  appreciation  of  his  subject,  not  to  fan 
flames  of  disagreement.  His  chapters  are  at  once 
learned  and  humanly  interesting.  Mr.  Warwick 
Goble,  the  illustrator  of  the  volume,  lacks  much 
of  the  knowledge  and  security  shown  by  his  colla- 
borator. That'he  has  suffered  to  some  extent  from 
his  colour-printer  the  exhibition  of  the  original 
drawings  now  on  view  in  Brook  Street  \Vi\\  serve 
to  show  ;  but  he  alone  is  responsible  for  certain 
faults  in  architectural  drawing.  The  view  of  Torre 
Abbey  (of  which,  by  the  way,  he  has  chosen  a 
strangely  uninteresting  portion,where  several  better 
subjects  were  open  to  him)  is  a  striking  instance 
of  this  weakness.  Unequal  artist  as  he  is,  there 
are,  however,  some  extremely  charming  plates  m 
the  volume,  particularlv  those  of  the  Abbot's  Bridge 
at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,"and  the  views  of  Netleyand 
Tintern,  and  Rievaulx  in  the  early  morning. 
He  gives  with  much  beauty  the  colour  of  old  stone. 


174 


PRINTS 

We  have  received  from  Messrs.  Ciiatto  and 
Windus  tlie  latest  instalment  of  their  now  famous 
series  of  'Medici'  prints — a  reproduction  in 
colours  of  The  Virgin  adoring  the  Infant  Savionr 
by  Filippino  Lippi  in  the  Ui^zi.  In  point  of 
artistic  effect  the  coloured  reproduction  is  in  no 
way  inferior  to  the  previous  '  Medici'  publications, 
and  the  details  in  certain  of  the  more  delicate 
passages,  such  as  the  Virgin's  head  and  the  trans- 
lucent veil  thrown  over  her  hair,  could  hardly  be 
better.  The  tone  of  the  print  at  first  sight  looks 
slightly  heavy  by  contrast  with  the  broad  white 
mount,  but  the  moment  the  reproduction  is  given 
its  proper  setting  in  a  frame  this  heaviness  vanishes 
and  the  print  exhibits  the  warm  and  tender 
luminosity  of  the  original.  The  standard  of  these 
prints  has  been  so  uniformly  high  that  we  shall 
look  forward  with  the  greatest  possible  interest  to 
the  appearance  of  Botticelli's  Birth  of  ]'cniis, 
Titian's  Madonna  of  tlic  Clicrrics  and  the  famous 
picture  of  Giorgione  at  Vienna  commonly  known 
as  the  Three  Wise  Men,  which,  it  appears,  are  now 
in  preparation. 

From  the  same  publishers  we  have  received  the 
third  portfolio  of  their  series  of  colour  reproduc- 
tions of  the  early  painters  of  the  Netherlands, 
containing  facsimiles  of  several  most  interesting 
pictures,  among  them  the  Madonna  and  Child 
attributed  to  Hubert  Van  Eyck  in  the  Berlin 
Museum,  which  is  perhaps  as  severe  a  test  of  any 
reproductive  process  as  could  well  be  imagined. 
The  details,  the  surface  and  the  craqnelnre  are 
rendered  with  wonderful  fidelity.  The  same  high 
praise  must  be  accorded  to  the  other  four  plates  in 
the  number,  special  mention  being  made  of  the 
extraordinary  picture  by  Pieter  Brueghel  the  Elder 
in  the  Vienna  Gallery.  That  the  humorous 
grandeur  of  this  little  masterpiece  should  be 
caught  and  preserved  is  perhaps  not  wonderful, 
since  its  treatment  is  bold  and  massive  as  well  as 
minute  ;  but  the  reproduction  goes  much  farther, 
the  actual  texture,  substance  and  quality  of  the 
pigment  being  so  deceptively  imitated  that  it  is 
impossible,  except  by  touching  the  surface  of  the 
reproduction,  to  realize  that  the  pitting  and  corruga- 
tion of  the  original  surface  have  not  been  rendered 
by  actual  relief.  Nor  does  the  illusion  vanish 
under   a   strong   magnifying    glass  ;  in    fact,    no 


Trints  and  (Catalogues 

process  of  facsimile  reproduction  can  possibly  go 
further. 

The  second  part  of  the  similar  publication 
dealing  with  the  great  Italian  masters  also  contains 
several  reproductions  of  very  high  interest.  The 
minute  accuracy  of  the  colour  process  employed 
is  well  illustrated  by  the  Portrait  of  a  Young  Man, 
by  Antonello  da  Messina  in  the  Berlin  Museum, 
while  a  broader  style  of  Venetian  workmanship  is 
illustrated  in  the  reproduction  of  the  Portrait  of  a 
Canon  by  Catena  at  Vienna  ;  the  delicate  quality 
of  the  faded  pink  silk  hood  being  beyond  all  praise. 
The  charming  panel  in  the  Berlin  Museum  by 
Filippo  Lippi,  Scene  from  tlie  Cliildhood  of  a  Saint, 
is  also  excellent,  though,  while  the  details  of 
colour  and  treatment  are  perfectly  retained,  there 
seems  just  the  slightest  possible  loss  of  freshness 
in  the  general  effect.  The  Allegory  of  Music  by 
Filippino  and  the  small  Portrait  of  Rannccio 
Farnese  by  Francesco  Rossi  de'  Salviati  in  the 
same  collection  are  not  quite  so  good,  possibly 
because  they  were  taken  from  less  felicitous 
originals. 

CATALOGUES 

Of  the  catalogues  that  have  reached  us  the  most 
important  are  the  two  illustrated  ones  received 
from  Messrs.  Frederick  Miiller  and  Co.  of  Amster- 
dam. The  first  deals  with  the  Boreel  collection 
of  porcelain  and  furniture,  to  be  sold  on  i6th  and 
17th  June.  Though  the  collection  includes  good 
pieces  of  Delft  and  oriental  ware,  the  examples  of 
the  Dresden  factory  are  its  chief  feature,  and  the 
admirable  illustrations  enable  an  excellent  idea  to 
be  formed  of  their  importance.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  the  catalogue  of  drawings  by  old  masters 
from  various  collections  which  Messrs.  Miiller  will 
sell  on  I5th-i8th  June.  As  the  collection  includes 
examples  attributed  to  Diirer,  Schaiifelein,  Lucas 
van  Leyden  and  other  rare  masters  of  Germany 
and  the  Netherlands,  in  addition  to  several  speci- 
mens of  Rembrandt,  it  is  worthy  of  close  attention. 
The  illustrated  bulletins  of  the  New  York  and 
Boston  Museums  are,  as  usual,  interesting,  the 
Portrait  of  a  Man  by  the  elder  Cranach  acquired 
by  the  former  institution  beingspecially  noteworthy. 
]\Ir.  Ludwig  Rosenthal  of  Alunich  has  issued  two 
new  catalogues — the  one  dealing  with  manuscripts, 
the  other  with  almanacks  and  calendars. 


^    RECENT  ART   PUBLICATIONS  *  d^ 


ART  HISTORY 
GusMAM  (P.).   L'ait  decor.ilif  de  Rome,  de  la  fin  del.i  republique 
au  IVesiecle.  (15  x  11)    Paris  (Eggimann).    Ft.  I.  20  photo- 
types, sculpture  and  architectural  details. 

Della  Seta  (^..).  Le  genesi  dello  scorcio  nell'  a'te  grcca. 
(12x9)  Rome  (Tipogr.  della  R.  Accademia  dei  Liiicei). 
Illustrated. 

*  Si/es  (height  X  width)   in  inches. 


Kraus  (F.  X.).  Geschichte  der  Chrisllichen  Kunst.  Vol.  Ill 
pt.  II,  second  half.  Italicnische  Renaissance.  (11x8, 
Freiburg  im  I'rcisgau  (Herder),  19  m.  Concludes  the  work' 
niustrated. 

JusTi  (C).  Miscellanen  aus  drei  Jahrhunderlen  spaniichen 
Kunstlebens.  I  Band.  (II  xS)  Berlin  (Grote),  10  m. 
Illustrated. 

^7S 


Recent  Art  Publications 


TOPOGRAPHICAL  ANTIQUITIES 

MusiL  (A.).     Arabia    Petraca :   I,  Moab ;    II,  Edom.     (10x7) 

Vienna  (Holder),  45  m.     3  vols.     Illustrations,  plans,  etc. 
Dubois  (C).   Pouzzoles  antique  :  histoire  et  topographie.  (9x6) 

Paris  (Fonteinoing).     450pp.     Text  illus.  and  map. 
Erder.a    (C).     L'Ossola.     (11x7)      Bergamo   (Istituto    d'Arti 

grafiche),  1.  3.50.     151  illustration'. 
Brixhet  (M.).     Le  chateau  de  Ripaille.     (11  xS)     Paris  (Dela- 

grave),  60  fr.     15  plates. 
Fossa  (F.  de).     Le  chateau  historique  de  Vincenncs.     Vol.  I. 

(11x9)     Paris  (Daragon),  25s.     Illustrated. 
Bes.-vnt  (->ir  \V.).     Early  London  :  Prehistoric,  Roman,  Saxon 

and  Norman.     (12x9)     London  (Black),  30s. 
Renwick  (R.).     Glasgow  memorials.     (9x7)     Glasgow  (Macle- 

hose),  21S.     100  illustrations. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS  AND  MONOGRAPHS 

SiEVERs(J.).     Pieter  Aertsen.     (10x7)     Leipzig  (Hiersemann), 

18  m.     32  phototypes. 
FoRATTi  ( A.).     Giovanni  Bonconsigli,  pittore  vicentino.     (9x6) 

Padua,  Verona  (Drucker).    48  pp. 
CoNTARiNi  (E.).     Nascimbene  Bjltrani,  pittore  bagnacavallese 

del  quattrocento.   (10x6)    Faenza  (Tipogr.  sociale).     16  pp. 
Kristeller  (P.).   Giulio  Campagnola.    Kupferstiche  und  Zeich- 

nungen.    (15x11)     Berlin  ( Jassirer,  for  tlie  '  Graph ische 

Gesellschaft ').     27  plates. 
Glaser  (C).     Hans   Holbein   der   Aellere.     (11x8)     Leipzig 

(Hiersemann),  20  ni.     Phototypes. 
MicHEEET  (V.  E.).    Maufra,  peintre  et  graveur.    (11x8)     Paris 

(F'loury),     6  etchings  and  process  illus. 
GiLBEY  (Sir  \V.)  and  Cumixg  (E.  D.).     George  Morland,  his  life 

and  works.  (9x6)  London  (Black),  20s.  50  coloured  plates. 
Bernardini  (G.).     Sebastiano  del  Piombo.     (11x7)     Bergamo 

(Istituto  ital.  d'Arti  grafiche),  1.  15.     Illustrated. 
OsBORN  (.VI.).     Joshua  Reynolds.     (10x7)     Leipzig  (Velhagen 

S:  Klasing),  4  m.     115  illustrations. 
Fletcher    (B.).       Richard    Wilson,    R.A,      (7x5)      London 

(VV.  Scott  Publishing  Co.),  New  York  (Scribne'-),  3s.  6d. 

net.     21  plates. 

ARCHITECTURE 
Hogarth  (D.  G.).     British  Museum  excavations  at   Ephesus. 

The  archaic  Artemisia.   (12x9)    London  (British  .Museum), 

50s.     With  atlas  of  plates  (22  x  15). 
Zanca   (A.).      La   cattedrale    di    Palermo,   rilievi   e   restaiiri. 

(28x24)  Bergamo  (Istituto  d'Arte  grafiche),  Pts.  1-3  (photo- 
type plates),  each  61. 
Avexa    (A.).     II  re^tauro   dell'   arco  d'Alfonso   d'Aragona   in 

Napoli.     (13x9)     Rome  (Danesi),  20I.     138  illustrations. 
Haupt  (A.).     Palast-Architektur  von  Ober-Italien  und  Toscana 

vom  xiii  bis  xviii  Jahrhundert :  Verona,  Vicenza,  Mantua, 

Padua,  Udine.     Pt.  I.     (21x14)     Berlin  (VVasmuth),  m.  28. 

To  be  completed  in  5  parts,  each  containing  20  plates. 
Watson  (VV.  C).     Portuguese  Architecture.     (11x7)     London 

(Constable),  25s.  net.     lOi  process  illustrations. 
Feilchenkeld  (F.  W.j.     Die  Meisterwerke  der  Baukunst    in 

Portugal.     (17x12)     Vienna,   Leipzig   (Stern),  25  m.      30 

phototypes. 
ScHi'LZ  (F,  T.).     Die  Rundkapelle  zu  Altenfurt  bei  Niirnberg. 

Ein   Bauwerk  des    xii   Jahrhunderts.    (10x7)     Strasburg 

(Heitz),  5  m.     S  plates. 
Garner  (T.)  and  Stratton  (A.).     The  domestic  architecture 

of   England  during   the  Tudor   period.     Pt,    I.     (20 x  15) 

London  (Batsford),  42s.     Plates. 
Kloeppel  ( — ).     Friedericianisches  Barock  :  fiirstliche,  kirch- 

liche  und  hiirgerliche  Baukunst  vom  Ende  des  xvii  bis  zum 

Ausgang  des  xviii  Jahihundtrts.    (14x10)    Berlin  (Weise), 

30  ni.     80  phototypes. 
Exterieurs  et   interieurs  du   XVIIIe  siecle.     Architecture    et 

decoration  des  edifices  les  plus  remarquables  de  I'epoque 

Louis  XVI  a  Bordeaux.     (18x13)     Paris  (Schmid),  50  fr. 

44  phototypes. 
Gallee  (f.  H.).    Das  niederliindische  Bauernhaus  und  seine 

Bewohner.     Pts.  \  and  2.     (20  x  14)     Utrecht  (Oosthoek), 

subscription  price  50  m. ;  after  publication  60  m.     In  4  pts. 

70  pl.ites,  with  text. 
Bl'Mpus  (T.  F.).  London  Churches, ancient  and  modern.  2  vols. 

(8x5)     London  (Laurie),     lllnslraled. 
Hutton  (Rev.  A.  W.).   A  short  history  and  description  of  Bow 

Church,  Cheapside.     (10x7)     London  (Stock),  is.  net. 


PAINTING 

MALAGfZZi  Valeri  (Count  F.).  Catalogo  della  R.  Pinac->teca 
di  Brera.  (7x5)  Bergamo  (Istituto  d'Arti  gratichc),  1.  5, 
46  plates. 

Lemberger  (E.).  Beitriige  zur  Geschichte  der  Miniaturmalerei. 
Ein  Handbuch  liir  Sammler,  etc.  (7X4)  Berlin  (Bernstein), 
20  m.  A  dictionary  of  miniaturists  :  2,500  names,  with 
introduction  and  an  essay  on  forgeries. 

National  Gallery  of  British  Art,  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. 
Part  II.  Catalogue  of  water-colour  paintings  by  British 
artists  and  foreigners  working  in  Great  Britain.  London 
(VVeyman),  9d. ;  in  cloth  covers,  is.  6d. 

Martin  (H  ).  Le  Terence  des  dues.  (15x11)  Paris  (Plon- 
Nourrit),  i2ofr.     37  photogravure  plates. 

DRAWINGS 
II  libro  di  Jacopo  Bellini.    Con  prefazionc  di  Corrado  Ricci.    I. 

Disegni  conservatial  Museodel  Louvre.  Florence  (Alinari), 

130 1.  facsimile  of  original  leather  bindmg  ;  100  I.  cloth. 

The  illustrations  include  94  collotype  plates. 
Les  dessins  de  D.  Francisco  de  Goya  y  Lucientes  au  Musee  du 

Pradoa  Madrid.  Preface  et  texte  explicatif  de  P.  d'Achiardi. 

(15x11)      Rome   (.Vnderson),   30  fr.      Livraison   I.    (Les 

Caprices).    44  phototype  plates, 

ENGRAVING 

Leidinger  (G.).     Vierzig  Metallschnitte  des  xv  (ahrhunderts 

aus  Munchener  Privatbesitz.     (10x6)     Strasburg  (Heitz), 

8  in.     20  plates. 
Singer  (H.  W.).     Die  Kleinmeister.    (10x7)    Leipzig  (Knack- 

luss),  3  m.     114  illustrations. 
Hymans  (H.).      Catalogue  des   Estampes    d'Ornement  faisant 

partie  des  collections  de  la  Bibliothequeroyale  de  Belgique. 

(10x7)    Brussels  (Lamertin).     8  plates. 

CERAMICS    AND    GLASS 

Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club.  Exhibition  of  faience  of  Persia  and 
the  Nearer  East.  Illustrated  catalogue.  (16x12)  London 
(privately  printed).    26  plates,  some  in  colour. 

QuEiROZ  (J.).  Ceramica  Portugueza.  (13x9)  Lisbon  (Typo- 
graphia  do  Annuario  Commercial),  45  fr.  Cop'ously  illus- 
trated, facsimiles  of  ii.arks,  etc. 

DoENGEs  (W.).  Meissner  Porzellan,  seine  Geschichte  und 
Kunstlerische  Entwicklung.  (9x6)  Berlin  (Marquardt), 
12  m.     Plates,  some  chromo. 

Sherrill  (C.  H.).  Stained  glass  tours  in  France.  (8x5) 
London,  New  York  (Lane),  6s.  net.     Illustrated. 

OiDT.MANN  (H.).  Die  Glasmalerei  im  altcn  Frankenlande. 
(9x6)     Leipzig  (Duncker),  6  m. 

PLATE 

EVANS  (Rev.  J.  T.).  The  church  plate  of  Carmarthenshire,  with 
chantry  certificates,  extracts  from  returns  of  church  goods, 
and  addenda  and  corrigenda  to  '  The  Church  Plate  of 
Pembrokeshire.'  (10x7)  East  Acton  (H.  Gray),  21s.  14 
plates. 

Jones  (E.  A.).  The  old  church  plate  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  (10x7) 
London  (Bemrose),  los.  6d.  net. 

Forrer  (k.).  Zinn-Cimelien  der  Sammlung  Ho'rat  Kahlbau. 
(13  X  9)     Strasburg  (privately  printed).     20  phototypes. 

TEXTILES  AND  LACE 

La  collection  Kelekian.  Etoffes  et  tapis  d'Orient  et  de  Venise. 
Notice  de  J.  Guiffrey.  Cent  planches  reproduisant  les  pieces 
les  plus  remarquable  de  cette  coU-'ction.  (16x12)  Paris 
(Levy),  200  fr.  Phototypes  and  process  reproductions  in 
colour. 

Marquet  de  Vasselot  (I.  J.).  Catalogue  raisonne  de  la  col. 
lection  Martin  Le  Roy,  IV:  Tapisseries  et  broderie. 
(16x12)     Paris  (privately  printed).     17  photogravures. 

Astier  (Col.  d').  La  Belle  Tapisserye  du  Roy  (1532-1797)  et 
les  tenlures  de  Scipion  I'Africain.  (11x9)  Paris  (Cham- 
pion), 30  fr.    37  phototypes. 

Ricci  (E ).  Antiche  trine  italiane:  trine  ad  ago.  2  vols. 
(14x11)  Bergamo  (Istituto  d'Arti  grafiche),  73s.  6d. 
Copiously  illustrated. 

Collection  J.  G.  Camerino,  Paris.  Les  Points  de  Venise. 
(22  X  15)  Paris  (Lib.  des  Arts  decoratifs),  65  fr,  40  photo- 
types. 


176 


cA.  ART  IN   FRANCE  a^ 


THE  SALONS 
The  Salon  of  the  Societe  Nationale  des  Beaux- 
Arts,  which  we  still  agree  to  call  the  Salon  du 
Champ  de  Mars,  reaches  a  rather  higher  level,  and 
is  certainly  more  interesting  than  that  of  last  year. 
Its  failing  is  that  of  so  many  modern  exhibitions — 
namely,  that,  while  the  average  is  high,  there  is  so 
very  little  that  is  above  the  average.  This  year's 
Salon  shows  that  French  painters  are  more  than 
ever  attached  to  brilliant  colouring.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Salon  is  singularly  free  from  eccentricity 
and  from  pictures  of  the  type  to  which  one  may 
take  exception  without  being  a  Puritan.  Since  its 
migration  from  the  Champ  de  Mars  to  the  more 
fashionable  environment  of  the  Champs-Elys^es 
the  '  New  Salon  '  has  become  quite  respectable, 
and  this  year  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any 
marked  characteristic  as  a  whole  that  distinguishes 
it  from  its  older  rival. 

As  one  enters,  from  the  Avenue  d'Antin,  the 
great  hall  where  the  sculpture  is  exhibited,  the 
thought  strikes  one  that  M.  Rodin's  studio  must 
have  been  wrecked  by  a  mob  of  disappointed  rivals  ; 
for  there,  right  in  front  of  the  door,  are  three 
enormous  pieces  of  the  clibris.  The  catalogue  in- 
forms us  that  one  was  once  an  Orphce,  the  second 
a  Triton  et  Xeiitlc  and  that  the  third  is  the  truncated 
remains  of  a  Muse.  M.  Rodin  is  one  of  the  great- 
est of  living  artists ;  it  is  deeply  to  be  regretted 
that  he  does  not  realize  the  responsibility  of  his 
position.  He  has  only  to  visit  the  Salon  des 
Independants  to  see  what  his  example  has  led  to. 
The  sculpture  as  a  whole  is  not  especially  remark- 
able. Perhaps  the  bust  of  Ingres,  by  M.  Bourdelle, 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  pieces  ;  it  is  a  splendid 
head  full  of  life  and  character.  The  Hiver  of 
M.  Desbois  is  a  fine  piece  of  work,  and  M.  Pierre 
Roche's  plaster  model  for  the  monument  pf  Dalou 
has  excellent  qualities,  but  is  not  great  enough  in 
conception  for  its  scale.  A  large  design  for  a 
monument  called  Z-n(te///iJd//(/;;7rt//;t',  by  M.Lagare, 
will  attract  attention.  A  charming  nude  figure  by 
M.  Jose  Clara  is  extremely  promising  ;  this  sculptor 
is,  if  I  mistake  not,  a  new  comer. 

The  three  pictures  by  which  M.  Zuloaga  signal- 
izes his  return  to  the  Salon  after  several  years' 
absence  show  what  great  progress  he  has  made  in 
the  inter\'al.  M.  Zuloaga  has  inherited  the  great 
Spanish  tradition.  I  recognize  all  that  may  be 
said  as  to  the  ugliness,  even  the  brutality,  of  the 
picture  of  a  repulsive  dwarf,  with  the  carcases  of 
the  bears  in  which  he  deals  slung  over  his  shoulders, 
or  that  of  the  witches  of  San-Millan  ;  but  what 
strength,  what  mastery  both  of  composition  and 
colour  they  show  !  Only  a  superficial  observer 
would  call  this  group  of  hideous  old  women  ugly  ; 
it  is  extraordinarily  attractive.  And,  to  show  that 
he  can  paint  other  than  types  of  ugliness,  M. 
Zuloaga  gives  us  a  brilliant  portrait  of  that  most 
charming  of  Carmens,  Mile.  Lucienne  Breval,  a 
marvellous  effect  of  light  and  shade.     Close  by 


M.  Zuloaga's  pictures  hangs  a  large  canvas  of  M. 
Leon  Lhermitte,  Ln  Faviillc,  a  group  of  peasants 
in  a  cornfield  ;  it  is  a  characteristic  work  of  an 
accomplished  artist,  but  it  suffers  by  the  proximity. 

The  Ccniiioiiic  RcUgiciise  of  M.  Lucien  Simon  is 
perhaps  even  a  finer  piece  of  work  than  his  Rccollc 
iics  Ponimcs  de  terre,  recently  exhibited  at  George 
Petit's.  In  this  picture  of  the  censing  at  the 
Magnificat  in  the  basilica  of  Assisi,  M.  Simon  has 
set  himself  a  difficult  task  and  has  overcome 
the  diiftculties.  In  the  same  room  are  Mr.  Charles 
Shannon's  portraits  of  himself  (if  iorse  en  niarbre) 
and  of  Miss  Kathleen  Bruce  {La  robe  rose),  two 
of  the  best  portraits  in  the  exhibition,  and  a  portrait 
of  Bracquemont  and  of  the  artist,  by  M.  Gaston  La 
Touche  {Bracquemont  et  son  disciple);  the  last  is 
less  hot  in  colour  than  most  of  M.  La  Touche's 
work  (though  still  a  little  too  hot)  and  has  many 
good  qualities. 

M.  Jacques  Blanche  sends  two  of  the  pictures 
which  he  showed  recently  in  the  Georges  Petit 
Galleries  and  four  others,  of  which  the  portrait  of 
Mesdenioisclles  G.L....  should  be  specially  noticed, 
although  it  is  perhaps  too  conscious  a  following  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  A  fine  portrait  of  Mr. 
Conder  hangs  as  a  pendant  to  that  of  Sir  Coleridge 
Kennard,  and  between  them  is  a  group  of 
the  children  of  Mr.  Saxton  Noble.  M.  Cottet 
shows  only  one  picture,  a  modern  Pietd  :  a 
drowned  Breton  sailor  lies  on  his  bier  in  the  fore- 
ground, behind  him  kneels  his  mother  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  sorrowing  women;  in  the  background 
is  the  harbour  with  its  red-brown  sails.  The  picture, 
which  is  treated  in  a  decorative  manner,  is  certainly 
one  of  the  most  personal  and  interesting  of  the 
year.  M.  Le  Sidaner  shows  four  pictures  of 
Hampton  Court  and  two  of  London  which  all 
deserve  notice ;  that  of  the  fountain  court  at 
Hampton  Court  is  particularly  attractive.  M. 
Lobre,  M.  RaoulUllmann  and  M.  Zakarian  are  all 
well  represented  here.  The  Plage  Lointaiue  of  Mr. 
Rupert  Bunny,  an  artist  of  Australian  birth,  is  one 
of  the  pictures  to  be  noticed  ;  it  is  a  group  of 
four  girls,  one  of  whom  has  just  been  bathing. 

Among  the  best  of  the  many  decorative  panels  in 
the  exhibition  are  those  which  M.  Maurice  Denis 
has  painted  for  a  private  house,  and  which  he  calls 
L'eternel  priutenips.  The  influence  of  Puvis  de 
Chavannes  is  sufficiently  obvious,  but  M.  Denis 
has  at  any  rate  chosen  a  good  model,  and  he  is 
far  from  being  a  mere  imitator.  The  great  merit 
of  these  panels  is  that  they  are  really  decorative. 
One  cannot  say  the  same  either  of  the  great  panel 
which  M.Roll  haspaintedfortheSorbonne  or  of  the 
Paradis  Perdu  which  M.  Gustave  Courtois  designs 
— with  a  certain  irony — for  the  Salle  des  Mariages 
in  the  Hotel  de  Ville  of  Neuilly.  This  huge  and 
glaring  canvas  is  everything  that  a  decorative  panel 
should  not  be,  and  has  not  even  technical  qualities 
to  recommend  it ;  it  is  a  corrupt  following  of  the 
late    M.    Bouguereau.     M.   Roll's   panel.    Vers   la 


177 


Art  in  France 


Nainre,  pour  I'HmunnHc,  is  far  superior  as  a  piece 
of  painting,  but  it  is  not  decoration,  and  its  mean- 
ing is  obscure.  Perhaps  the  intellects  of  the 
Sorbonne  will  be  able  to  solve  the  elaborate  riddle, 
but  is  this  decorative  art  ?  As  decoration,  the 
charming  if  frivolous  panel  of  M.  Aubertin,  I'Aiihc 
lies  Cygnes,  is  far  more  satisfactory,  though  both 
its  subject  and  its  colour  suggest  a  bathroom  as  its 
appropriate  destination. 

There  remain  to  be  noticed  several  portraits  ; 
two  by  M.  Boldini  are  as  clever  and  as  brilliant  as 
usual.  M.  de  La  Gandara  is  less  satisfactory  than 
he  was  the  other  day  at  Georges  Petit's.  M.  Boutet 
de  Monvel  sends  an  enormous  canvas,  a  portrait 
of  himself,  with  two  dogs,  standing  on  a  vast 
plain  ;  it  is  fine  in  composition,  but  the  quality  of 
the  paint  is  execrable.  La  vie  pensive  of  Mile. 
Louise  Breslau — a  portrait  of  herself  and  her 
companion — is  among  the  best  in  the  exhibition  ; 
it  is  really  a  picture.  M.  G.  W.  Lambert's  portrait 
group,  exhibited  in  last  year's  Academy,  has  been 
much  admired  by  most  of  the  French  critics  ;  it 
has  an  excellent  place  in  the  first  room.  In  spite 
of  an  over-elaboration  of  detail,  M.  Prinet's  Portraits 
must  be  given  a  higii  place.  It  shows  insight  into 
character  as  well  as  technical  ability. 

The  humour  of  the  Salon  is  supplied  by  M.  jean 
Veber,  whose  decorative  panel,  La  Giiiiiguette,  is 
rather  brutally  clever  and  extremely  amusing.  It 
is  said  to  be  intended  for  the  Hotel  de  Ville  ;  one 
could  hardly  imagine  the  City  Fathers  selecting 
sucli  a  piece  of  decoration  for  the  Guildhall,  though 
they  might  like  it  for  a  smoking-room.  It  is 
perhaps  too  much  like  an  enlarged  picture  from 
Le  Rire.  The  story  of  the  removal  of  M.  Veber's 
other  exhibit,  ]'isioii  d'Alletuagiie,  is  generally 
known.  Another  picture  temporarily  removed  was 
La  Vision  {Rennes,  Aont  1899)  by  M.  Paul  Renouard; 
this,  however,  was  restored  to  the  walls  after  the 
removal  of  the  offending  inscription. 

The  Salon  of  the  Societe  des  Artistes  fran^ais 
confirms  one's  opinion  that  its  rival  has  hardly 
any  longer  a  raison  d'etre;  there  is,  it  is  true,  a 
larger  expanse  of  nullity  than  in  the  New  Salon, 
and  the  exhibition  as  a  whole  is  this  year  the  less 
interesting  of  the  two,  but  there  is  no  sign  that 
any  one  has  been  excluded  for  offence  against 
academic  principles.  The  real  justification  of  the 
division  is  that,  if  the  two  Salons  were  combined  in 
one  exhibition,  it  would  require  superhuman 
courage  to  enter  it. 

The  Old  Salon  has,  however,  certain  notes  of 
its  own.  One  knows  that  one  will  encounter  M. 
Falli^res  visiting  everywhere  and  opening  every- 
thing. This  year  one  or  two  of  these  official 
pictures,  notably  that  of  M.  Abel  Boyi^,  are  much 
above  the  average  of  such  things.  Then  there  is 
sure  to  be  the  Breton  sailor  going  away  or  coming 
back,  or  his  wife  mourning  because  he  is  never 
coming  back ;  I  wish  he  would  stay  away  for  at 

17B 


least  three  salons.  Lastly  there  must  be  Jeanne 
d'Arc  to  make  the  Salon  complete  ;  this  year  we 
have  her  talking  to  an  angel,  by  M.  Gaston 
Bussiere,  to  whom  the  jury  has  patriotically 
awarded  a  medal.  A  protest  must  really  be  made 
against  the  absurd  practice,  not  entirely  new  but 
very  prevalent  in  the  present  Salon,  of  cutting  a 
picture  into  three  and  calling  it  a  triptych,  as  if  a 
triptych  were  a  mere  affair  of  framing. 

The  arrangement  of  the  beautiful  sculpture  hall 
(or  rather  winter  garden)  is  this  year  more  attractive 
than  ever  ;  it  would  be  impossible  to  show  sculp- 
ture to  greater  advantage.  But  unfortunately  the 
sculpture  as  a  whole  is  less  interesting  than  it  has 
been  for  a  long  time.  The  work  of  M.  Fernand 
David  deserves  special  notice  ;  his  Feninie  an  bain 
in  particular  is  an  admirable  study  of  the  nude. 
IM.  Sicard's  monument  to  Edouard  Barbey  is 
another  of  the  best  pieces.  There  are  many 
excellent  busts. 

In  the  section  of  painting  English  and  American 
artists  make  a  most  creditable  show.  An  admirable 
portrait  of  a  girl  reading  by  Mr.  G.  S.  Watson  has 
a  place  of  honour  in  the  first  room  ;  in  the  same 
room  is  Mr.  J.  H.  F.  Bacon's  accomplished  picture 
of  the  Boyd  Harvey  family,  and  an  excellent 
picture  by  an  American  painter,  Mr.  Joseph  Raphael 
(Bohbncs  et  paysannes),  which  is  unfortunately  too 
high  up  to  enable  it  to  be  seen  properly.  Among 
other  pictures  by  Englishmen  and  Americans 
which  deserve  special  mention  are  Mr.  John  da 
Costa's  Pierrette,  Mr.  P.  W.  Gibbs's  La  Civilisation 
(perhaps  showing  rather  too  much  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Brangwyn),  Mr.  Hughes-Stanton's  Caniiers 
(one  of  the  best  landscapes  in  the  Salon),  Mrs. 
Maclane-Johansen's  Sur  le  haul  de  la  colline,  Mr. 
Richard  Miller's  Marchand  de  jonets,  Mr.^Tom 
Mostyn's  An  refuge,  Mr.  Charles  Sims's  La  fete  stir 
Vile,  Mr.  Lionel'  Smyth's  Les  Glaueurs  and  Mr. 
Robert  Vonnoh's  two  excellent  portraits,  especially 
Bessie  Potter  Vonuoh.  It  is  an  American  painter, 
Mr.  Robert  MacCameron,  who  sends  one  of  the 
most  striking  pictures  in  the  whole  exhibition,  the 
Gronpe  d'aniis,  a  powerful  study,  admirably  painted, 
of  three  human  wrecks  seated  at  an  estaniinet  table. 
Artistically,  like  most  of  the  Americans,  Mr.  Mac- 
Cameron  belongs  to  the  French  school. 

There  are  also  several  good  pictures  by  Spanish 
artists,  notably  La  Revanche  oi  M.  Bermejo-Sobera, 
the  Assez,  nioii  pere.'oi  M.  Jose  Malhao,  the  'Jaleo' 
en  Andalousie  of  M.  Tito  Salas  (a  South-American 
Spaniard),  and  the  very  strong  and  brilliant  Belle- 
mere  of  M.  Carlos  Vazquez.  An  Italian  painter, 
M.  Ulysse  Caputo,  sends  two  very  good  genre 
pictures.  Indeed  a  large  share  of  the  honours  of 
this  year's  Salon  belongs  to  foreigners,  many  of 
whom,  of  course,  have  been  trained  in  France. 
The  pictures  just  mentioned  show  that  M.  Zuloaga 
is  not  alone  in  Spain,  and  that  there  is  promise  in 
modern  Spanish  art. 


Art  in  France 


In  any  case  the  pictures  which  bear  the  label 
'  H.C  are  very  far  from  being  among  the  best  as 
a  whole  ;  I  do  not  remember  a  Salon  in  which 
the  Societaires  hors  coucoiirs  showed  up  so  badly. 
M.  Bail  paints  as  carefully  as  usual,  and  he  always 
has  quality,  but  how  much  more  interesting  work 
he  has  done  in  the  past !  M.  Alexis  Vollon,  as 
usual,  takes  a  high  place  ;  his  success  last  year 
with  a  brilliant  portrait  of  a  Parisian  woman  in  a 
very  different  style  from  that  to  which  we  had 
been  accustomed  has  led  him  to  send  a  portrait 
group  in  the  same  bright  and  clear  tone ; 
although  not  perhaps  quite  equal  to  its  prede- 
cessor, it  is  admirably  composed  and  painted.  M. 
Henri  Martin  sends  a  decorative  panel  for  the 
Sorbonne,  L' Etude,  and  a  portrait.  Of  course  the 
panel  shows  some  sense  of  decoration,  which  is 
more  than  can  be  said  for  most  modern  decorative 
work,  but  it  is  terribly  uninteresting  and  the  spots 
are  larger  than  ever.  It  represents  M.  Anatole 
France  conversing  with  a  group  of  disciples 
whose  appearance  suggests  that  his  conversation 
is  less  interesting  than  his  books.  A  much  more 
satisfactory  decoration,  also  for  the  Sorbonne,  is 
sent  by  Mademoiselle  Dufau ;  her  two  panels 
symbolizing  Astronomy,  Mathematics,  Radio- 
activity and  Magnetism  are  really  decorative, 
attractive  in  colour  and  composition,  and  very 
well  painted.  M.  Desire-Lucas  is  a  member  whose 
work  is  always  to  be  noticed  ;  Lc  pardon  dc  Saiiit- 
Cado  is  a  strong  and  attractive  picture.  It  is  with 
some  alarm  that  one  observes  the  energy  displayed 
by  M.  Dujardin-Beaumetz  in  the  decoration  of 
public  buildings  ;  his  energy  is  also  demonstrated 
by  the  unusually  large  number  of  pictures  and 
statues  bearing  labels  which  indicate  that  they 
were  ordered  in  advance  by  the  State. 

The  retrospective  section  of  the  Salon  is  devoted 
to  the  sculpture  of  Ernest  Barrias,  which  is  very 
interesting,  and  the  paintings  of  Alexandre 
Cabanel,  which  are  much  less  so. 

The  Socicte  Nationale  holds  its  retrospective 
exhibition,  as  usual,  at  Bagatelle.  This  year  it 
consists  of  portraits  of  celebrated  men  and  women, 
1830-1900.  The  two  hundred  portraits  have 
naturally  been  chosen  chiefly  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  celebrity  of  their  subjects,  and  the 
artistic  level  of  the  exhibition  is  not  very  high. 
The  only  living  painters  admitted  are  socictnircs 
of  at  least  six  years'  standing,  who  are  permitted 
only  one  work  each.  It  is  pleasant  to  see  again 
M.  Boldini's  wonderful  portrait  of  Whistler  ;  M. 
Aman-jean's  portrait  of  Verlaine  is  also  very  inter- 
esting, as  are  three  little  portraits  by  M.  Rafaelli  of 
M.  Clemenceau,  M.  Pichon  and  M.  Millerand — the 
first  two  painted  in  1883,  and  the  last  in  1885.  M. 
de  La  Gandara's  extremely  unpleasant  portrait 
of  Jean  Lorraine  is  much  stronger  than  the  fashion 
plates  which  he  is  now  too  fond  of  giving  us. 
There   are   several   very    interesting   portraits    by 


Ingres,  including  those  of  himself,  Gounod, 
Rossini  and  Mnie.  d'Agoult ;  the  three  first  are 
drawings.  Isabey's  portrait  of  his  niece,  Chas- 
seriau's  of  his  daughter,  Delaroche's  portrait  of 
Emile  Pereire,  Carriere's  sketch  of  Edmond  de 
Goncourt,  Friant's  little  picture  of  M.  Jules 
Claretie  in  his  study,  the  three  portraits  by  Ricard 
and  the  three  by  Baudry  are  among  the  best  from 
the  artistic  standpoint.  The  numerous  portraits 
of  the  deposed  royal  family  illustrate  the  fate 
which  ordains  that  royal  personages  should  be 
painted  by  any  one  but  an  artist.  The  one  excep- 
tion is  the  unfinished  sketch  of  Queen  Amelie  by 
Ary  Scheft'er  ;  there  is  also,  by  the  way,  an  admir- 
able portrait  by  Henry  Scheffer  of  his  wife. 

OTHER  EXHIBITIONS 
One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  exhibitions 
now  open  is  that  of  the  drawings  and  etchings  of 
Rembrandt  at  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  It 
could  be  dealt  with  adequately  only  in  an  article 
by  an  expert  student  of  Rembrandt,  and  I  can 
only  call  attention  to  it  for  the  benefit  of  visitors 
to  Paris.  The  prints,  275  in  number,  all  belong 
to  the  library,  with  the  exception  of  seven  magni- 
ficent proofs  lent  by  Baron  Edmond  de  Roth- 
schild ;  they  represent  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
engraved  work  of  Rembrandt  and  include  most 
of  the  rarest  states  and  the  finest  impressions. 
There  are  about  three  hundred  drawings  lent  by 
private  collectors,  among  whom  are  included  Mr. 
Fairfax  Murray  and  Mr.  Heseltine.  The  excellent 
and  very  complete  catalogue,  to  which  M.  G. 
Courboin  has  contributed  an  introduction  on  the 
history  of  the  collection  in  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  and  M.  J.  Guibert  a  bibliography,  will 
be  permanently  valuable  as  a  work  of  reference. 

The  Marquise  de  Ganay  has  organized  on  behalf 
of  the  Croix  Roitgc  a  loan  exhibition  of  one  hundred 
pastels  of  the  eighteenth  century,  which  was  opened 
at  the  Georges"  Petit  galleries  on  May  i8th  and 
will  remain  open  until  June  loth.  M.  Durand- 
Ruel  is  holding  an  exhibition  of  early  landscapes 
by  Monet  and  Renoir  which  will  continue  until 
June  20th.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  it  is  worth 
a  visit. 

With  the  theatrical  exhibition  at  the  Mus^e  des 
Arts  Decoratifs  we  propose  to  deal  next  month. 

SALES 
The  month  of  May  has  given  us  the  first  sales 
of  importance  this  season.  The  most  interesting 
were  those  of  the  collections  of  objcis  d'art 
belonging  to  M.  Zelikine  and  the  late  M.  Homberg ; 
the  collection  of  M.  Jules  Gcrbeau,  which  was 
very  varied,  and  the  well-known  collection  of 
M.  Cheramy.  Thirty-one  oil  sketches  left  by 
Cazin  were  sold  at  the  beginning  of  the  month 
and  produced  a  total  of  frs.  78,810.  The  sale  of 
the  Clieramy  collection  excited  immense  interest, 
and  the  prices  paid  wjre  on  the  whole  very  high. 

179 


Art  in  France 

The  total  amount  fetched  by  the  collection  was 
frs.  1,242,287,  pins  the  usual  10  per  cent.  One  of 
the  most  ardent  buyers  was  a  M.  Simon  Oppen- 
heimer,  said  to  be  a  German  collector,  who 
certainly  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  He 
paid  no  less  than  85,800  frs.  (for  the  sake  of  exacti- 
tude I  include  the  10  per  cent,  in  quoting  the 
prices)  for  an  old  copy  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's 
Vicrgc  aiix  Rockers  (105),  which  the  catalogue, 
with  natural  optimism,  declared  to  be  finer  than 
the  picture  in  the  National  Gallery,  an  opinion  not 
shared  by  amateurs  generally.  The  collection,  as 
a  whole,  was  perhaps  disappointing,  after  all  that 
one  had  heard  about  it  :  the  Italian  pictures  were 
very  poor  indeed,  and  the  other  schools,  except 
the  French,  were  less  strongly  represented  than 
one  had  been  led  to  believe  ;  but  the  French 
pictures  alone  made  the  collection  a  notable  one. 
M.  Cheramy  had  some  of  the  finest  examples  of 
David  in  existence,  examples  which  showed  that 
that  artist  is  at  present  very  much  underrated. 
His  collection  of  paintings  and  drawings  by 
Delacroix  was  unique,  and  there  were  beautiful 
examples  of  Corot,  Ingres,  Gericault  and  Prudhon. 
The  collection  of  pastels,  water  colours  and 
drawings  also  bore  witness  to  M.  Cheramy's  taste 
and  judgment.  An  exquisite  drawing  by  Millet, 
Soiiis  Maicrnds  (393),  fetched  frs.  6,600,  and  was 
well  worth  the  price.  Another  by  the  same  artist, 
La  BaigncHse  (394),  fetched  frs.  2,640.  To  my 
mind  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  at  the  same 
time  one  of  the  cheapest  things  in  the  collection 
was  a  pastel  by  Degas,  Le  Mod'clc  an  repos  (292)  (a 
portrait  of  Mile.  Daubigny,  daughter  of  the  artist), 
which  M.  Simon  Oppen'heimer  bought  for  frs. 
19,800.  Several  water  colours  and  drawings  by  Barye, 
Corot,  Delacroix  and  Ingres  fetched  high  prices. 
M.  Haro  paid  no  less  than  frs.  10,450  for  a  pen 
drawing  by  Delacroix,  Lion  cf  lionne  (230),  and  M. 
Simon  Oppenheimer  gave  frs.  6,150  each  for  two 
water  colours  by  the  same  artist,  the  former  a  scene 
in  Tangiers  (293)  and  the  latter  a  military  subject, 
Marocainspadant  pour  le  combat  (304).  The  very 
fine  wash-drawing  by  Daumier,  l Artiste  cu  face  de 
son  cciivre  (291),  fetched  frs.  3,355. 

Among  the  pictures  by  David,  the  Portrait 
de  la  Marquise  de  Pastoret  (44)  fetched  the  highest 
price,  frs.  45,100;  ihe.  Po)trait  du  Marechal  Mac- 
donald  (45)  by  the  same  artist  was  bought  by 
M.  Jules  Gallet  for  frs.  20,460,  and  M.  Kelikian  paid 
frs.  18,150  for  another  portrait,  that  of  Mnie.  de 
Morel  de  Tangry  (47).  These  prices  suggest  a 
revival  of  interest  in  David  ;  I\I.  Cheramy  gave 
frs.  19,690  for  No.  44  in  1897  ^^  ^^^  Plessis-Bel- 
liere  sale  and  only  frs.  2,970  for  No.  45  at  the 
Rottan  sale  in  1890.  A  very  fine  picture  by  Prud- 
hon, Trioinphe  de  Bonaparte  (94),  formerly  in  the 
Viot  collection,  was  bought  by  the  Lyons 
museum  for  frs.  24,200.  The  more  important 
pictures  by  Gericault  also  fetched  high  prices  :  frs. 

180 


25,410  for  the  Lanciet  rouge  (55)  and  frs.  20,900 
for  Officier  de  la  Garde  luiperiale  chargcant  (56). 
Perhaps  one  of  the  best  in  quality  of  the  Geri- 
caults  was  a  small  picture,  Le  Fon  assassin  (57), 
which  the  Ghent  museum  brought  for  the  low 
price  of  frs.  1,155. 

The  forty  pictures  by  Delacroix  sold  extremely 
well.  The  famous  picture,  Hercule  et  Alceste  (151), 
fetched  frs.  35,700 — nearly  double  the  price  that 
M.  Cheramy  paid  for  it  at  the  Cronier  sale  three 
years  ago.  Handel  et  le  cadavre  de  Polonins  (154)1 
formerly  in  the  Edwards  collection,  fetched  frs. 
22,000  and  the  Conite  Palatiano  (159)  went  up  to 
frs.  19,910  ;  the  same  price  was  paid  for  Tobie  el 
I'Aiigc  (169),  which  fetched  frs.  3,900  at  the  Dutil- 
leux  sale  in  1874.  The  prices  of  the  Corots  were 
much  lower  ;  but  the  beautiful  Terrasse  du  Palais 
Doria  a  Genes  (127),  painted  in  1834,  was  very 
cheap  at  frs.  5,830  ;  the  Venise  (132),  a  picture  of 
the  same  year,  fetched  frs.  12,100  and  was  also 
far  from  dear,  although  the  Terrasse  seemed  to  me 
the  best  example  of  Corot  in  the  collection.  A 
poor  example  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes,  Madeleine 
(227),  fetched  frs.  6,820  and  the  Oedipe  etle  Sphinx 
of  Ingres  (208)  frs.  16,610. 

The  pictures  of  other  schools  in  this  collection 
were  by  no  means  chosen  with  the  same  judg- 
ment. Of  the  thirty-five  pictures  which  bore 
Constable's  name  there  were  not  more  than  six- 
teen which  it  was  possible  to  attribute  to  him,  and 
even  of  these  half  a  dozen  were  doubtful.  More- 
over, none  of  them  were  pictures  of  first-rate  im- 
portance. One  of  the  best  was  the  small  Hanip- 
stead  Heath  (12),  for  which  M.  Oppenheimer  paid 
frs.  2^,100.  The  same  collector  paid  frs.  27,500 
for  Malvern  Hall  (8),  a  characteristic  work  of  about 
1818.  A  brilliant  sketch  of  the  celebration  of 
Waterloo  at  East  Bergholt  was  sold  for  frs.  5,747, 
and  the  other  pictures  that  were  certainly  the  work 
of  Constable  all  fetched  quite  moderate  prices, 
but  they  were  all  small  and  unimportant.  On  the 
other  hand,  La  charctte  de  Join  (13),  a  strange 
pastiche  of  the  Hay-Wain  in  the  National  Gallery, 
which  appeared  to  be  a  work  of  the  late  nineteenth 
century,  was  acquired  by  the  indefatigable  M. 
Oppenheimer  for  frs.  24,200  ;  it  would  have  been 
cheap,  had  it  been  a  work  of  Constable.  A  pic- 
ture strangely  described  as  Le  pare  de  I'Archeveche 
de  Salisbury  (6),  a  not  unpleasing  work  by  an 
unknown  artist,  who  would  have  been  surprised 
had  he  known  that  the  name  of  Constable  would 
become  attached  to  it,  fetched  frs.  7,150,  and  no 
less  than  frs.  1 1,000  was  paid  (by  M.  Oppenheimer) 
for  a  picture  of  Preston  tower  near  Ipswich  (7), 
described  in  the  catalogue  as  Freeton  Tower  pres 
Ipsifick,  which  certainly  did  not  come  from  Con- 
stable's brush.  One  of  the  most  extraordinary  attri- 
butions in  the  catalogue  was  that  of  No.  97,  a  female 
portrait  attributed  to  Raeburn  ;  it  was  dear  at  frs. 
2,530.  A  good  portrait  of  Garrick,by  Reynolds,  was. 


Art  in  France 


on  the  contrary,  very  cheap  at  frs.  14,080  ;  it  would 
probably  have  fetched  ;^i,ooo  at  Christie's.  A  por- 
trait of  a  woman  attributed  to  Hoppner  but  pro- 
bably by  Lawrence  (82)  fetched  frs.  6,600  and  a 
perfectly  genuine  sketch  by  Lawrence  frs.  4,290. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  so-called  Romney  (99),  of 
course  a  LrtJy  Hamilton,  was  very  dear  indeed  at 
frs.  13,3 10.  A  comparison  of  these  prices  will  show 
what  a  lack  there  still  is  in  France  of  real  know- 
ledge of  the  English  school. 

Among  other  very  high  prices  in  the  collection 
were  those  of  frs.  61,600  for  a  portrait  of  Sedainc 
(5),  catalogued  as  by  Chardin,  but  much  more  like 
the  work  of  Lcpicie  ;  frs.  80,300  for  a  portrait  of 
Lola  Zimeucs  (71),  catalogued  as  by  Goya,  which,  in 
spite  of  its  signature,  was  not  entirely  convincing  ; 
frs.  30,800  for  a  St.  Dominic  (76),  catalogued  as  by 
Greco  but  even  more  doubtful ;  frs.  22,220  for 
another  picture  (77),  Lepartagc  dc  la  Sainte  Tuniqnc, 
which  was  described  in  the  catalogue  as  a  reduced 
replica,  by  the  master  himself,  of  the  well-known 
picture  in  Toledo  Cathedral,  but  which  had  all 
the  appearance  of  being  a  copy. 

The  collection  of  the  late  M.  Gerbeau  was 
divided  into  four  separate  sales.  The  first  section, 
which  consisted  of  porcelain,  objcts  d'art,  furniture 
and  tapestries,  produced  frs.  356,370  (not  including 
the  commission).  The  old  prints,  which  were  next 
sold,  made  a  total  of  frs.  320,413.  Some  of  the 
prices  in  this  section  were  very  high  ;  a  set  of  three 
proofs  before  letters  in  different  states  of  J.  M. 
Moreau's  Conchcrdc  la  mariec  was  bought  by  Mme. 
Rousseau-Girard  for  frs.  13,310. 


The  Homberg  collection,  sold,  like  that  of  M. 
Cheramy,  at  the  Georges  Petit  galleries,  contained 
no  pictures,  but  was  one  of  the  finest  collections  in 
France  of  ivories,  enamels,  carved  wood,  sculpture 
and  objcts  d'art  of  the  middle  ages  and  the  Re- 
naissance. The  sale  took  six  days,  and  the  total 
amount  realized  (including  commission)  was  frs. 
902,563.  The  collection  included  a  fine  series  of 
oriental  faiences,  which  fetched  high  prices  ;  M. 
Kalebjian  paid  frs.  17,600  for  a  mosque  lamp  m 
Damascus  faience  with  blue  decoration  on  a  white 
ground.  The  oriental  bronzes  also  sold  extremely 
well,  as  did  the  Italian  faience  and  the  manuscripts. 
The  ivories  and  enamels  were  warmly  contested. 

The  Zclikine  collection  was  also  almost  entirely 
composed  of  objcts  d'art ;  there  were  some 
twenty  pictures,  all  of  very  small  importance.  For 
the  fine  pieces  in  the  collection  the  prices  were  good. 

GENERAL  NOTES 
M.  Armand  Dayot,  who  arranged  the  Chardin- 
Fragonard  exhibition  last  year,  has  a  still  more 
ambitious  scheme  for  1909.  He  proposes  to 
hold  an  Anglo-French  exhibition,  consisting  of  a 
hundred  of  the  most  beautiful  portraits  of  women 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  fifty  of  the  English 
school  and  fifty  of  the  French  school.  Such  an 
exhibition  would  be  extremely  interesting,  and  it 
may  be  hoped  that  M.  Dayot  will  be  assisted  by 
private  collectors  in  England  to  make  it  really 
representative.  It  is  suggested  that  the  English 
pictures    should    be    selected   by  an    mfluential 


English  committee. 


R.  E.  D. 


cA^ 


ART  IN  GERMANY,  AUSTRIA  AND    SWITZERLAND 


cK) 


'HE  40olh  anniversary  of 
Calvin's  birthday  is  to  be 
celebrated  at  Geneva  by  the 
erection  of  a  monument  sym- 
bolizing the  Reformation.  An 
international  competition  has 
been  opened  with  prizes  to 
the  amount  of  30,000  francs. 
Among  the  judges  are  to  be 
found  names  of  the  highest  standing,  such  as 
Bartholome  of  Paris,  Frampton  of  London  and 
Tuaillon  of  Berlin. 

A  number  of  mural  paintings  of  the  fourteenth 
century  have  been  discovered  in  the  choir  of  the 
Church  of  S.  Gallus  at  Muhlheim  on  the  Danube. 
They  represent  scenes  from  the  Passion,  the  wise 
and  foolish  virgins,  St.  George,  St.  Martin  and 
episodes  from  the  life  of  St.  Gallus.  The  work 
discovers  striking  resemblances  to  the  paintings  in 
the  former  Dominican  monastery  at  Constance. 

The  museum  at  Elberfeld  has  acquired  an  im- 
portant early  painting,  dated  1876,  by  Lieberminn, 
representing  a  Dutch  sewing  school,  while 
Uhde's  earliest  work  of  importance.  La  Chanlcusc, 
painted  when  he  was  still  influenced  by  Munldcsy 


at  Paris,  has  come  into  possession  of  the  Neue 
Pinakothek  at  Munich.  Another  Liebermann, 
Street  in  the  J  civs'  Quarter  at  Amsterdam,  has  been 
bought  by  the  museum  at  Magdeburg. 

Besides  several  paintings  of  minor  interest 
and  about  one  hundred  excellent  drawings,  the 
National  Galerie  at  Berlin  has  recently  acquired 
some  very  interesting  reliefs  and  a  bust  by  Gott- 
fried Schadow.  Of  the  reliefs  nothing  but  models 
existed  so  far,  and  these  have  only  now  been  cast 
into  bronze.  They  represent  simple  and  graceful 
studies  from  the  nude,  decoratively  handled  and 
rather  less  forcibly  naturalistic  than  Schadow's 
later  work.  The  original  models  were  used  by 
him  to  decorate  the  entrance  hall  of  his  own  house. 
Two  friezes  of  ancient  horse  and  chariot  races 
were,  strangely  enough,  copied  pretty  accurately 
from  repro^luctions  of  Etruscan  vases  (published 
in  i8o3byTischbein).  Thebustisoneof  Schadow's 
first  wife  :  it  too  is  archaic  rather  than  naturalistic. 

Among  the  recent  additions  to  the  Kaiser 
Friedrich  Museum  there  figure  ajacopo  Robusti,  a 
Tiepolo  and  a  Zoffany.  The  Robusti,  which  hails 
from  Budapest,  represents  the  portrait  of  an  old, 
white  bearded  and  almost  bald  man,  evidently  an 

181 


Art  in   Germany 

official  of  some  consequence  in  Venice  and  one 
who  was  used  to  command.  It  belongs  to  that 
class  of  warm-coloured  and  passionate  portraits 
of  which  it  is  occasionally  doubtful  whether  we 
do  best  to  attribute  them  to  Titian  or  Tintoretto. 
The  Kaiser  Friedrich  Museum  is  already  rich  in 
good  work  by  Tiepolo  ;  the  small  new  canvas, 
wliich  formerly  belonged  to  a  collector  in  St. 
Petersburg,  is  however,  upon  the  whole,  a  very 
welcome  addition.  It  represents  Taiicrcd  en- 
amoured of  Arinida  in  her  enchanted  garden — a 
simple  north  Italian  villegiatura — and  displays  to 
fine  advantage  the  elder  Tiepolo's  grasp  of  per- 
spective, his  piquant  and  joyous  coloration,  and  his 
free  and  spirited  technique.  Ever  since  the  famous 
recent  English  exhibition  at  Berlin,  the  public 
has  especially  felt  it  to  be  a  grievous  shortcoming 
that  Berlin's  great  gallery  does  not  contain  a 
room  of  English  paintings,  not  even  a  small 
cabinet  full,  but  for  the  present  only  an  English 
wall  in  one  of  the  rooms.  Considering  the  prices 
that  fine  Romneys,  Reynoldses  and  Gainsboroughs 
now  command,  there  is  unfortunately  much  more 
than  good  will  necessai-y  to  fill  up  the  lacunae. 
The  small  full-length  portrait  of  Dr.  Hanson  of 
Canterbury,  by  Zoitany,  seated,  in  a  landscape,  is 
only  a  slight  step  in  this  direction,  though  the  quali- 
ties of  the  work,  taken  by  itself,  are  quite  respectable. 
But  Zoffany  is  so  decidedly  second-rate  a  painter 
that  it  remains  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  it  be 
really  the  right  thing  to  buy  a  work  of  his  brush 
before  the  gallery  can  show  its  visitors  what 
English  art  at  its  best  is  like.  Such  acquisitions 
are  likely  to  be  misleading.  People  who  have 
heard   about   the   show  at   the    Berlin    Academy 


without  having  been  able  to  see  it  may  turn  to 
work  like  this,  and  be  at  a  loss  to  understand  why 
anybody  could  have  raved  about  English  eighteenth- 
century  art.  The  little  portrait,  by  the  way,  was 
on  view  in  this  year's  Winter  E.xhibition  at  Bur- 
lington House,  and  will  be  familiar  to  many  Lon- 
doners in  consequence. 

Berlin  boasts  of  so  few  old  buildings  that  the 
loss  of  the  Garnisons  Kirche,  which  was  burnt  down 
during  the  night  of  the  13th  to  14th  of  April,  is 
seriously  felt.  It  was  originally  built  in  172 1-2  by 
Gerlach,  and  rebuilt  by  Rabe  in  18 16.  The  facade 
was  simplicity  itself,  and  the  structure  had  little 
more  than  age  (or,  rather,  what  would  be  looked 
upon  as  old  age  at  Berlin)  to  recommend  it.  Owing 
to  a  thorough  restoration,  which  was  effected 
during  the  year  1900,  the  interior  did  not  even 
display  many  traces  of  that. 

Baden-Baden  is  to  have  a  new  ornamental 
fountain,  for  which  Mr.  H.  Sielcken  of  that  town 
has  given  ^^2,000.  The  arena  of  the  amphi- 
theatre at  Treves  is  going  to  be  restored  and,  in 
part  at  least,  accommodated  to  its  ancient  uses  as  a 
stadium  for  outdoor  sports. 

The  competition  opened  by  the  Bavarian 
Government  for  designs  for  new  postage  stamps 
has  proved  a  great  disappointment.  None  of  the 
1,100  designs  contributed  by  about  300  competitors 
seem  to  have  satisfied  the  judges  well  enough  to 
induce  them  to  propose  any  one  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  adoption.  The  prize-money  was  conse- 
quently divided  up  into  a  number  of  small  pre- 
miums. The  result  of  the  Leipzig  ornamental 
visiting-card  competition,  I  have  been  told,  is 
scarcely  more  promising.  H.  W.  S. 


cA.  ART  IN  AMERICA  ^ 


TWO   SPECIMENS   OF    LA    FARCE'S   ART 

IN  GLASS 
Mr.  John  La  Faroe  has  now  in  his  studio  two 
small  windows,  or  panels,  of  coloured  glass  which, 
apart  from  their  intrinsic  beauty,  are  of  great  in- 
terest as  exemplifying  almost  every  phase  of  those 
'  American  methods,'  in  the  invention  of  which  he 
has  played  so  important  and  preponderant  a  part. 
They  are  not  in  any  proper  sense 'stained' glass 
and  still  less  painted  glass,  and  one  of  them  is 
not  leaded  glass  :  they  are  examples  of  what 
may,  perhaps,  best  be  called  transparent  glass 
mosaic. 

One  of  them,  The  Peony  in  the  Wind,  is  a  trans- 
lation into  gla^s  of  an  ancient  Japanese  design, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  borders,  with 
their  relations  of  width  to  each  other  and  to  the 
central  panel,  are  according  to  a  Japanese  rule  for 
the  borders  of  a  Kakemono.  In  its  structure  this 
panel  is  exceedingly  simple.  It  is  composed  of 
single  pieces  of  glass  leaded  together,  the  colour 
being  in  the  glass  itself.     There  is  absolutely  no 

182 


painting,  and,  apparently,  there  is  little  if  any 
'  plating,'  or  putting  one  piece  of  coloured  glass 
over  another,  as  a  printer  in  oils  '  glazes '  over  his 
underpainting.  It  relies,  primarily,  on  the  beauty 
of  the  material  itself — a  material  infinitely  varied 
and  rich,  which  has  little  in  common  with  the 
sheets  of  glass  of  one  united  hue  which  are  the 
foundation  of  glass  painting  in  the  English 
manner — and  upon  the  skill  of  the  artist  in  fitting 
together  these  beautiful  bits  of  coloured  glass  into 
a  beautiful  whole  while  making  of  his  lead  lines 
not  a  disagreeable  necessity  but  an  integral  and 
important  part  of  his  design.  Of  this  material, 
the  result  of  many  experiments  made  by  Mr.  La 
Farge  and  others,  with  its  opalescence,  its  const-ant 
gradation  of  tender  hues,  its  cloudings  and  veinings, 
it  is  as  impossible  to  convey  any  idea  as  of  the 
mastery  of  colour  harmonies  with  which  it  is 
assembled  ;  but  in  black  and  white  reproduction, 
where  the  splendour  of  the  colour  is  lost  and  even 
th-  composition  of  light  and  dirk  is  but  dimly  felt, 
the  iraoortance  of  the  lead  lines— the    backbone 


THE    PKACOCK.      I'ANKl.    IX    COLOUKKU 
GLASS,   BY   JOHN    LA    FARGE 


IHI      riuNY    IX    TlIK    WIND.       I'ANKL    IN 
COLUUULU   GLASS,    BY   JOHN    LA    LARGE 


ANT    IN    AMI-KICA 


Art  in  America 


of  the  design — is  even  more  clearly  seen  than 
in  the  original.  They  are  so  important — so  essen- 
tially the  design  itself — that  they  might  almost 
stand  alone  without  the  addition  of  colour,  and 
we  should  have  a  piece  of  leaded  glass  as  interest- 
ing in  its  linear  beauty  as  a  Japanese  woodcut. 

This  is  the  American  method  at  its  best,  free  of 
commercial  vulgarization  and  of  the  compromise 
with  paint  forced  by  the  necessity  of  figure  repre- 
sentation— a  method  entirely  logical  and  leased  on 
the  nature  of  the  material  and  tlie  processes  of 
manufacture,  and  using  them  in  the  simplest  and 
most  direct  way  with  splendid  results. 

The  other  panel.  The  Peacock,  is  a  much  more 
personal  thing,  produced  by  methods  of  great 
subtlety  and  difficulty  (most  of  them  of  Mr.  La 
Farge's  own  invention),  and  of  a  costliness  which 
must  render  their  employment  by  himself  or 
others  of  rare  occurrence.  There  are  a  few  leads 
here  and  there  in  this  panel,  where  the  emphasis 
of  a  firm  line  was  wanted,  but  the  greater  part  of 
it  is  put  together  without  leads.  Glass  is  fused  to 
glass  with  nothing  between  them,  and  glass  is 
joined  to  glass  by  a  fine  copper  wire  fused  to  the 
pieces  it  joins.  Glass  is  plated  over  glass,  enriching 
and  deepening  its  colour  or  uniting  many  separate 
pieces  with  a  glaze  of  one  predominant  tint,  and 
these  platings  are  again  fused  to  the  original 
pieces— finally  the  whole  delicate  structure  is 
encased  between  two  plain  sheets  of  glass,  back 
and  front,  which  bind  it  together  and  give  it  the 
necessary  rigidity,  while  they  soften  the  sharpness 
of  the  cutting  lines  where  these  appear.  The 
separate  pieces  of  glass  are  very  small  and  almost 
countless  in  number,  and  in  the  choice  of  these  is 
involved  not  only  taste  and  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  colour,  but  a  knowledge  of  the  material  and  of 
the  change  in  its  colour  which  will  be  brought 
about  by  the  heat  to  which  it  must  be  sulojected. 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  this  panel  has 
been  years  in  attaining  completion. 

The  design  is  adapted  from  a  Chinese  ivory  of  the 
Ming  dynasty,  in  its  turn  copied  from  an  earlier 
work,  and  was  probably  chosen  by  Mr.  La  Farge 
for  its  adaptability  to  his  purpose  of  showing  all 
the  resources  of  the  art  of  glass  as  he  understands 
it.  The  line  has  been  deliberately  subordinated, 
or  eliminated,  and  the  attention  of  the  artist  has 
been  concentrated  on  obtaining  the  utmost  beauty 
and  fullness  of  colour — colour  glowing,  flushing, 
pulsating,  without  definite  edges  or  divisions — 
colour  almost  inconceivably  powerful,  yet  subtle 
and  delicate — colour  which  makes  that  of  the 
Peony  in  tlic  Wind,  beautiful  as  it  is,  seem  thin  by 
comparison — colour  such  as  is  obtainable  in  no 
other  material  and  in  that  material  by  no  other 
artist. 

Of  such  a  work  no  reproduction  can  give  any  con- 
ception— perhaps  a  reproduction  in  monochrome 
is  less  likely  to  give  a  false  conception  of  it  than 


would  be  any  attempt  at  colour-printing.  The 
plain  black  and  white  can  at  least  show  something 
of  the  fineness  of  the  workmanship — of  the  mere 
refinement  of  the  cutting  and  of  the  multitude  of 
small  separate  pieces  of  glass  employed.  For  any 
notion  of  its  glory  one  must  go  to  the  work  itself. 

Kenyon  Cox. 

CURRENT  NOTES 

The  Saint  Gaudens  Exhibition. — It  is  most 
gratifying  to  note  that  the  Saint  Gaudens  Memorial 
Exhibition  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 
was  visited  by  tens  of  thousands  of  whose  sincere 
enthusiasm  there  can  be  no  doubt.  It  originally 
was  contemplated  to  have  it  last  a  month,  that  time 
had  to  lie  extended  one  month  and  again  another. 
The  organization  of  the  exhibition  was  admiiable, 
the  representation  of  the  master's  work  was 
extensive,  and  the  larger  reproductions  lost  little 
in  their  setting  within  the  great  entrance  hall  of 
the  museum. 

Many  to  whom  sculpture  in  its  purely  aesthetic 
appeal  is  dumb  can  understand  in  the  works  of 
Saint  Gaudens  certain  large  ideas  which  are  not 
for  art  alone.  The  embodiment  of  such  thoughts 
as  leadership  and  heroism  in  war  and  statesman- 
ship in  the  eager  Sherman  and  the  brooding 
Lincoln  ;  the  fateful  issues  of  slavery  and  freedom  ; 
the  ancestral  memories  of  pioneers  and  founders  ; 
the  acceptance  and  presentation  of  contemporary 
life  ;  the  shaiiiing  of  sordid  aims  ;  the  sense  of 
dignity  and  beauty  in  every  vision,  cannot  fail  of 
its  effect  upon  public  taste.  Now  that  we  have 
lost  him,  we  feel  all  the  more  that  he  has  done  a 
greater  thing  than  produce  a  series  of  works  of 
art.  He  has  helped  to  make  for  us  Americans  an 
ideal  actual.  And,  through  his  sense  for  the  value 
of  a  higher  tradition,  he  has  brought  our  deeper 
sentiments  in  touch  with  the  whole  imaginative 
world  of  the  past.  Essentially  conservative  and 
objective  in  temper,  the  work  of  Saint  Gaudens 
marks  an  era  in  American  sculpture.  That  the 
exhibition  has  been  a  great  public  success  is  most 
encouraging.  Those  who  despair  of  art  culture 
in  America  have  not  Saint  Gaudens's  faith  ;  tliose 
who  work  halfheartedly  towards  it  may  be 
inspired  by  his  tireless  energy. 

Whatever  final  place  among  the  great  sculptors 
of  the  world  will  be  given  to  Saint  Gaudens  by  the 
verdict  of  posterity  we  may  not  be  able  to  say, 
but  he  was  a  great  factor  in  our  national  life  and 
a  recognized  leader  in  our  fight  for  the  achievement 
and  recognition  of  beauty.  What  we  can  know 
securely  is  that  his  pre-eminence  was  achieved  by 
exceptional,  consistent  endeavour,  a  love  of  good 
craftsmanship,  an  indefatigable  search  for  higher 
truths  and  more  perfect  forms.  This  Memorial 
Exhibition  revealed  the  range  of  Saint  Gaudens's 
art,  from  the  little  portraits  in  relief,  as  fine  in 
sentiment    as    in    execution,   to   the    imaginative 

185 


Art  in  America 


utterance  and  noble  design  of  liis  big  things.  It 
contained  no  hasty  workmanship,  no  extreme  or 
eccentric  experimentation.  He  'nothing  common 
did  or  mean.'  Saint  Gaudens  was  never,  Hke 
Donatello  at  times,  regardless  of  beauty.  He  was 
never,  like  Michelangelo  at  times,  impatient  or 
untender  ;  and  he  never  exploited  a  manner  or 
obscured  a  meaning.  His  genius  was  indeed  of 
the  classic  type  and  in  no  way  revolutionary — a 
constructive  perfectibility  seems  to  have  been  his 
guiding  ambition  in  botli  thought  and  craft.  And 
above  all  we  honour  him  for  the  large  and  noble 
part  that  he  played  in  our  national  development 
because  of  his  loyalty  and  devotion  to  high  artistic 
ideals. 

The  Spring  Academy. — I  must  limit  a  belated 
report  on  the  Spring  Academy  to  a  few  general 
aspects— and  to  painting  only,  as  no  fully  repre- 
sentative exhibition  of  sculpture  was  attempted  for 
want  of  space.  The  bringing  together  of  conser- 
vatives and  radicals  under  one  roof  did  not  dis- 
close any  such  schism  in  the  aims  of  our  artists  as 
might  have  been  expected.  The  result  was  quite 
harmonious  ;  for  the  general  effect  of  the  exhibi- 
tion was  at  once  modern  and  conservative.  A 
brilliant  wall  of  the  younger  men,  who  follow  Manet 
in  an  ideal  of  simplification,  did  not  break  the 
rank.  Their  work  was  rich  in  native  themes  and 
full  of  human  interest,  if  without  high  stylistic 
achievement  in  any  instance.  A  portrait  by  Mr. 
Sloan  deserved  mention  for  its  dash  and  character. 
But  we  are  most  of  us  busied  more  with  ends  than 
means.  We  have  found  ourselves,  more  or  less, 
technically ;  and,  while  the  European  oracles  are 
not  dumb,  style  for  style's  sake  no  longer  satisfies 
our  ambition.  Who,  for  instance,  has  more  style, 
has  learned  more  from  European  art,  and  yet  is  more 
native  and  less  conventional,  than  Mr.  Alden  Weir  ? 
We  feel,  rather  than  recognize,  a  tradition  here. 
The  Laurel,  a  blithe  and  exquisite  piece,  which 
must  rank  high  among  Mr.  Weir's  ever  original 
and  various  works,  and  a  sylph  of  a  Ballet  Girl 
were  secure  and  complete  examples.  And  who, 
again,  conforms  more  to  a  classic  canon,  and  yet 
is  less  derivative,  than  Mr.  Tarbell  ?  The  President 
Seeley  was  beautiful  as  art,  and  a  monumental 
portrait  in  intention  if  not  in  absolute  achieve- 
ment, since  the  hands  were  so  insistent  as  some- 
what to  mar  the  ensemble. 

On  a  lower  aesthetic  level,  Mr.  Smedley  seemed 
like  an  American  Ghirlandajo :  a  wholesome 
average.  He  sets  up  a  standard  for  himself,  and 
carries  it  out.  In  a  very  serious  and  able  image 
of  child  life  Mr.  Kendal  repeated  a  familiar  motive 
with  his  usual  authority  and  competence.  Mr. 
Isham,  with  his  frankly  decorative  pastoral,  con- 
trived an  eighteenth-century  effect  in  modern 
dress.  A  charming  figurative  landscape,  or  out- 
of-door  genre  piece  rather,  by  Miss  Genth,  had 
portrait  quality  and  a  real  physical  presence  in  the 

i86 


figure,  and  in  its  vivid  light  and  colour  was  worthy 
of  comparison  with  Renoir  and  Mme.  Morisot. 
The  Lark,  a  captivating  nude  by  the  same  artist, 
was  a  success  in  feeling  and  style  and  workmanlike 
execution.  The  contribution  of  Mr.  Thayer  was 
most  attractive,  if  unsatisfactory,  which  did  not 
achieve  beauty  of  form  in  this  image  ;  we  cannot 
forget  that  we  owe  him  the  debt  of  his  priceless 
attitude,  his  sense  for  ideal  beauty. 

Mr.  Sargent's  four  portraits,  of  which  the  Mr. 
Robinson  was  the  most  studied  and  the  Mr.  Henry  A. 
Crane  perhaps  the  most  characteristic,  brought 
his  peculiar  note  into  the  assembly.  Miss  Beaux 
and  Mr.  J.  J.  Shannon  were  well  represented  in 
single  examples,  and  Mr.  Wiles's  Paul  Cornoyer, 
Esq.,  had  direct  purpose  and  character.  The 
Miss  Uliarton,  by  the  late  John  Lambert,  in  its 
quiet  refinement  and  distinction,  gave  witness  to 
the  loss  which  our  painting  has  sustained  in  the 
death  of  this  simple  and  lovable  artist.  Among 
other  works  in  this  field  may  be  mentioned  those 
by  Mr.  Eakins,  Mr.  Nicmeyer  and  Mr.  Hopkinson. 

The  exhibition  was  rich  in  more  or  less  objective 
landscape.  The  effect  of  this  art  is  cumulative, 
and  selection  is  difficult.  Mr.  Ochtman,  Mr. 
Tryon  and  Mr.  Lathrop  exhibited  characteristic 
work  in  a  very  native  tradition,  and  various  shades 
of  contemplative  observation  of  nature  in  its  more 
external  aspects  were  expressed  by  Mr.  W.  S. 
Robinson,  Mr.  Nettleton,  Mr.  Eaton  and  Mr.  Van 
Laer.  The  brilliant  Moonlight  of  Mr.  Benson 
and  Mr.  Carlsen's  sensitive  treatment  of  a  similar 
theme  were  honoured  in  the  hanging.  A  theme 
that  can  never  grow  old,  the  Venice  of  Mr.  Bunce, 
expressed  tenderly  and  finely  a  more  subjective 
mood.  In  this  romantic  category  were  examples 
from  Mr.  Bruce  Crane  and  Mr.  Ballard  Williams. 
More  modern  and  more  searching  compositions, 
in  the  region  of  colour  at  least,  were  offered  by 
Mr.  Lawson,  who  has  a  distinctive  individual  style 
of  great  power  and  refinement,  and  by  Mr.  Childe 
Hassan,  who  having  long  achieved  success  keeps 
growing  in  mastery.  Mr.  Rook's  Laurel  made 
an  interesting  colour  essay  of  bold  execution. 
Realistic  works  by  Mr.  Redfield  and  Mr.  Rosen 
commanded  attention.  Mr.  Redfield  has  colour 
and  Mr.  Rosen  temperament. 

That  our  landscape  generally  needs  the  tone  of 
a  larger  mood  is  proved  by  the  exceptional  power 
of  Mr.  Winslow  Homer's  art  as  represented  by 
two  characteristic  works  painted  some  years  ago. 
The  imaginative  vision  of  Mr.  La  Farge  in  his 
Wolf  Charmer  also  transcends  the  normal  activity 
and  tendency  of  American  painting.  Art  of  this 
kind,  like  the  sculpture  of  the  late  Saint  Gaudens, 
belongs  to  the  future,  for  it  means  more  than  its 
concrete  issues,  and  carries  with  it  a  spiritual 
leadership  and  influence,  the  effect  of  which  we 
can  in  no  way  at  present  estimate. 

W.  Rankin. 


,s9 


Sm^V^M^P*-  ^ 


EDITORIAL 
^  THE  AFFAIRS  O^    ^^^«^' 

'  HE    high    a  I 
recently  accej 
T.  D.Gibson- > 
does  more  than  create  a 
vacancy  in  the  ranksof  the 
trustees  of  the  National 
Gallery.    It  deprives  that  small  portion  of 
the  nation  which  is  seriously  interested  in 
,  of  the   help   of.  one  whose   fine 
ui,5ur  ,.i)d  wide   s"'.      '  '       '      e  done  u> 
invaluable  if  uhj 

The   filr 
departure  : 
ma 

i " 


'  its  lofty  place 

)rld — a  period 

i;iC   directorship  ot 

.. — the  part  played  by 

■at  of  htlpers  and  advisers, 

control  and  the  ultimate 

ior   purchases  rested  solely 

'     ■'■'■''•'-•"■     '  se  manage- 

c    and    Sir 

Frederick  Burton  this  plan  had  resulted  in 

almost  un.  '  success.  A  few  mistakes, 

indeed,  wtic  Uiude,  hut  by  trusting  to  thr 

judgment  of  a  sir.  -Ir    c-Krt-n   the    nation 

acquired    a    ser!  '.erpieces  long 

before    the  rest   of   the  world  awoke    to 

theii  importance. 

When   Sir  Edward   Poynter  succeeded 
Sir  Frederick  Burton  the  results  were  not 
so    happy,   and    finally    Lord    Rosebr 
Government  by  a  Treasury  minute  reve 
the  whole  arrangement.     The  directoi 
still  a  director  in  name,  but  he  could  ni.i..- 
no  purchase  for  the  gallery  without  obtain- 
ing the   consent  of  the  trustees.    He  was 

THE  B(ilU.lvar<»II    llMAtlNS,  No,  64.     Vm  XIII— jlli},  l»Oll 


ARTICLES 

^'^^lONAL  GALLERY  fK> 

..:         '     ^all  overt  •   -       ■        ;. 

w.*; —      -prived  of  ai.  ^  - ;...,....,.. ^^ 

master  i)e  bank  at  once  to  the  position  of 
servant. 

ht     still     h 

more  than  averai't- 
whose  contributi 
gallery  would  be  mamly  th( 
tU'  U  a  cri? 

si'  „.t    in    : ■■.... 

world,  and  of  that  large  com- 
ition  sciK.e  in  dealing  with  people  and 
th'.ngs  that  comes  of  high  station  and  long 
cxpCi  lence  of  affairs.  Such  a  board  would 
have  been  of  invaluable  assistance  to  a 
clever  judge  of  pictures,  while  he,  on  the 
other  hand,  would  have  possessed  just  the 
wide  and  precise  technical  knowledge  in 
respect  of  which  his  trustees  wtvit  at  rhe 
best  no  more  than  amateur^ 

The  actual  conditions  have  proved  very 
different,  and  probably  could  not  exist 
outside  England.  The  majority  of  the 
present  trustees  of  the  National  Gallery 
cannot  be  called  amateurs  at  all  except 
by  courtesy.  They  are  distinguished  col- 
lectors who  have  ■  -"i.  their  hobby  with 
the  keenness  and  g  of  professional  art 

critics  ;  in  fact  are  themselves  really  art 
critics  except  in  so  far  as  neither  poverty 

i  \'anity  has  driven  them  to  writi.ig. 

What  must  be  the  inevitable  result  : 
However  distinguished  an  expert  the 
director  may  be,  he  is  only  one  expert 
among  many,  and  the  one  with  the  least 
real  power.  Pie  may  recommend  again 
and  again,  but  if  there  be  one  dissentient 
voice  among  the  trustees  his  recommenda- 
tions are  made  useless. 

."^V  '  '  '  "  virihus  ruit!  Haa  11 
:.;!-...,  :  uc  :  Li.-d  with  subtle  and  deli- 
berate malice,  that  Treasury  minute  could 
not  have  been  more  disastrous  and  fatal  to 

189 


'Tint 


EDITORIAL 
^  THE  AFFAIRS  OF  THE 

HE  high  appointment 
recently  accepted  by  Sir 
T.  D.  Gibson-Carmichael 
does  more  than  create  a 
vacancy  in  the  ranksofthe 
trustees  of  the  National 
Gallery.  It  deprives  that  small  portion  of 
the  nation  which  is  seriously  interested  in 
the  arts  of  the  help  of  one  whose  fine 
taste  and  w^ide  sympathies  have  done  us 
invaluable  if  unadvertised  service. 

The  filling  of  the  gap  caused  by  his 
departure  to  Australia  will  thus  be  no  light 
matter,  and  we  trust  that  the  Government, 
in  making  the  new  appointment,  will  in- 
clude in  its  purview  the  whole  question  of 
the  administration  at  Trafalgar  Square. 

At  present  the  position  of  the  trustees 
of  the  National  Gallery  is  peculiar,  if  not 
unique.  In  the  period  when  the  gallery 
was  laying  the  foundations  of  its  lofty  place 
among  the  museums  of  the  world — a  period 
which  culminated  in  the  directorship  of 
Sir  Frederick  Burton — the  part  played  by 
the  trustees  was  that  of  helpers  and  advisers, 
but  the  supreme  control  and  the  ultimate 
responsibility  for  purchases  rested  solely 
with  the  director.  Under  the  wise  manage- 
ment of  Sir  Charles  Eastlake  and  Sir 
Frederick  Burton  this  plan  had  resulted  in 
almost  unqualified  success,  A  few  mistakes, 
indeed,  were  made,  but  by  trusting  to  the 
judgment  of  a  single  expert  the  nation 
acquired  a  series  of  masterpieces  long 
before  the  rest  of  the  world  awoke  to 
their  importance. 

When  Sir  Edward  Poynter  succeeded 
Sir  Frederick  Burton  the  results  were  not 
so  happy,  and  finally  Lord  Rosebery's 
Government  by  a  Treasury  minute  reversed 
the  whole  arrangement.  The  director  was 
still  a  director  in  name,  but  he  could  make 
no  purchase  for  the  gallery  without  obtain- 
ing the   consent  of  the  trustees.     He  was 

THS  BURUNQTOS   MAGAZINE,  No.  64.     Vul  .Xlli— July,  190S. 


ARTICLES 

NATIONAL  GALLERY  cK> 

relieved  of  all  overt  responsibility,  but  he 
was  also  deprived  of  all  power.  From  being 
master  he  sank  at  once  to  the  position  of 
servant. 

This  arrangement  might  still  have 
worked  well  had  the  trustees  been  no 
more  than  average  men  of  high  position 
whose  contributions  to  the  working  of  the 
gallery  would  be  mainly  those  of  an  oppor- 
tune cheque  at  a  critical  moment,  of  occa- 
sional support  in  Parliament  or  in  the 
diplomatic  world,  and  of  that  large  com- 
mon sense  in  dealing  with  people  and 
things  that  comes  of  high  station  and  long 
experience  of  affairs.  Such  a  board  would 
have  been  of  invaluable  assistance  to  a 
clever  judge  of  pictures,  while  he,  on  the 
other  hand,  would  have  possessed  just  the 
wide  and  precise  technical  knowledge  in 
respect  of  which  his  trustees  were  at  the 
best  no  more  than  amateurs. 

The  actual  conditions  have  proved  very 
different,  and  probably  could  not  exist 
outside  England.  The  majority  of  the 
present  trustees  of  the  National  Gallery 
cannot  be  called  amateurs  at  all  except 
by  courtesy.  They  are  distinguished  col- 
lectors who  have  pursued  their  hobby  with 
the  keenness  and  learning  of  professional  art 
critics  ;  in  fact  are  themselves  really  art 
critics  except  in  so  far  as  neither  poverty 
nor  vanity  has  driven  them  to  writing. 

What  must  be  the  inevitable  result  .? 
However  distinguished  an  expert  the 
director  may  be,  he  is  only  one  expert 
among  many,  and  the  one  with  the  least 
real  power.  He  may  recommend  again 
and  again,  but  if  there  be  one  dissentient 
voice  among  the  trustees  his  recommenda- 
tions are  made  useless. 

Sii/'s  et  ipsa  Roma  viribus  ritit!  Had  it 
indeed  been  designed  with  subtle  and  deli- 
berate malice,  that  Treasury  minute  could 
not  have  been  more  disastrous  and  fatal  to 

R  I  89 


The  Affairs  of  the  National  Gallery 


effective  action.  To  expect  unanimity  from 
a  committee  of  more  than  two  or  three 
average  men  is  optimistic  ;  to  expect  it 
from  nine  experienced  art  critics  is  insane. 
Let  the  reader  think  of  the  first  half-dozen 
famous  art  authorities  whose  names  he 
remembers,  and  then  imagine  what  his 
difficulty  would  be  in  bringing  them 
to  agreement  on  any  delicate  problem! 
The  best  he  could  hope  for  would  be 
compromise,  and  compromise  in  buying 
pictures  means  buying  second-rate  pictures. 

Such  is  the  position  towards  which  we 
are  inevitably  drifting,  even  if  our  national 
good  sense  may  have  saved  us  so  far  from 
actual  catastrophe.  Meanwhile  the  great 
galleries  of  Germany  and  America  compete 
with  our  unwieldy  arrangements  through 
trained  experts  who  take  full  responsibility 
for  their  acts,  and  in  return  are  entrusted 
with  full  powers.  They  can  seize  the 
chances  of  the  moment,  those  chances  that 
never  can  return  ;  while  we  have  to  stand 
by  with  our  hands  tied. 

That  the  handicap  is  too  heavy  for  us 
has  been  proved  time  after  time  of  recent 
years.  Masterpiece  upon  masterpiece  has 
gone  to  Berlin  or  to  America  which 
might  under  a  more  practical  system  have 
been  retained  in  England ;  while  the  uni- 
versal outcry  in  Germany  over  official 
interference  with  the  judgment  of  Dr.  von 
Tschudi  is  a  present  proof  of  the  impor- 
tance which  that  country  attaches  to  the 
independence  of  her  experts. 

All  this  is  a  commonplace  to  those  who 
have  studied  the  subject  ;  yet  it  is  also  a 
most  unsatisfactory  state  of  things,  and 
one  for  which  some  remedy  (if  a  positive 
cure  is  too  much  to  hope  for)  ought  to  be 
found  as  soon  as  possible.  The  appoint- 
ment of  a  new  trustee  would  give  the 
Government  a  chance  of  doing  something 
to  help  this  good  work,  could  the  question 
once  be  put  before  it  fairly. 

190 


The  crux  of  the  problem  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  critical  knowledge  of  the 
trustees  may  at  any  moment  become  an 
active  source  of  peril  instead  of  being  a 
tower  of  strength.  Its  intrinsic  value  to 
the  nation,  however,  is  so  considerable  that 
we  cannot  afford  to  do  without  it,  and  we 
trust  the  Government,  in  filling  the  vacancy 
left  by  Sir  T.  D.  Gibson-Carmichael's 
retirement,  will  not  hesitate  to  select  one  of 
the  three  or  four  gentlemen  who  are 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  post  by  their 
critical  knowledge  as  well  as  by  their  posi- 
tion and  experience.  If  the  new  trustee 
could  be  one  intimately  connected  with  the 
National  Art  Collections  Fund,  so  much 
the  better.  It  is  pre-eminently  desirable 
that  the  Fund  and  the  trustees  should  be 
as  closely  connected  as  possible,  so  that 
there  may  be  no  clashing  of  aims  and 
ideals  when  any  great  crisis  arises. 

We  not  only  need  all  our  best  talent 
just  now  ;  we  also  require  that  it  should 
co-operate  harmoniously,  if  as  a  nation 
we  are  to  hold  our  own  in  the  future. 

Assuming,  then,  the  vacant  trusteeship  is 
filled  by  one  as  gifted  as  its  late  holder, 
how  can  we  make  the  best  use  of  his  tal- 
ents and  those  of  his  colleagues  ?  Some 
change  at  least  from  the  existing  con- 
ditions is  imperatively  needed.  In  a 
previous  article,^  when  discussing  the  larger 
question  of  our  general  art  policy,  w^e 
advocated  the  restoration  of  independence 
to  the  director.  That  plan  still  appears  to 
us  to  be  the  ideal  one  ;  if  a  director  cannot 
be  trusted  he  is  not  fit  to  be  appointed. 

The  suggestion  is  far  from  novel.  It 
has  been  generally  voiced  in  the  press,  but 
the  fact  that  no  action  has  been  taken 
seems  to  show  that  there  are  difficulties 
in  the  way  which  are  not  apparent  to 
outside  spectators. 

In    default  of  this  complete   and    ideal 

'  See   The  Birlington    Magazine,  vol.  viii.   p.  225   (Jan. 
1906),  'The  Lesson  of  the  Rokeby  Velazquez.' 


The  Affairs  of    the  National  Gallery 


independence,  we  feel  convinced  that  two 
slight  modifications  of  the  present  system 
would  at  least  enable  the  director  and  the 
trustees  to  develop  their  respective  powers 
to  much  greater  benefit  than  at  present. 

(i)  To  enable  the  director  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  opportunities  of  the  sale- 
room, and  of  purchases  involving  instanta- 
neous decision,  a  definite  proportion  (say, 
j^i,ooo)  of  the  total  sum  available  for 
purchases  should  be  allowed  to  him 
annually  to  use  at  his  sole  discretion. 

(ii)  More  important  purchases  might 
be  made  by  the  director  if  his  recommen- 
dation were  backed  by  the  formal  approval 
of  not  less  than  two  of  the  trustees. 

By  this  provision  we  should  avoid  all 
risk  of  failure  owing  either  to  a  difference 
of  opinion  on  the  part  of  a  single  trustee 
or  to  the  delay  necessitated  by  having  to 
collect  eight  highly  placed  and  busy  men. 
Even  trustees,  too,  must  sometimes  take 
holidays,  and  what  is  the  poor  director  to 
do  then  ?  It  must  never  be  forgotten  that 
important  works  do  not  usually  remain  in 
the  market  for  long.  With  them  it  is  a 
case  of  '  now  or  never,'  and  the  director 
who  has  to  wait  three  weeks  or  a  month 
before  he  can  come  to  a  decision  cannot 
possibly  hold  his  own  against  men  who 
can  complete  a  bargain  on  the  spot. 

By  this  arrangement  the  director  would 
be  able   to   avail   himself  of    the  special 


knowledge  of  each  of  the  trustees,  as  occa- 
sion demanded.  If  he  wanted  to  buy  a 
Flemish  picture  he  would  naturally  go  to 
those  trustees  whose  knowledge  of  the 
Flemish  school  was  most  profound  ;  for  an 
Italian  picture  he  would  turn  to  the  ap- 
proval of  those  best  acquainted  with  Italian 
art,  and  for  a  French  picture  to  those  most 
interested  in  France.  The  arrangement, 
after  all,  is  like  that  of  an  ordinary  business 
firm,  whose  cheques  for  safety's  sake  have 
to  be  signed  by  two  directors,  as  well  as 
by  a  responsible  officer  of  the  company. 
But  what  should  we  think  of  a  business 
whose  every  cheque  needed  nine  signatures  ? 
We  have  the  less  hesitation  in  discussing 
this  delicate  problem  openly  because  the 
change  in  the  director's  status  made  by  the 
Treasury  in  Lord  Rosebery's  time  was 
designed  to  meet  an  exceptional  and  tem- 
porary difficulty.  To  exalt  it  to  the  dignity 
of  a  perpetual  rule  was  not,  we  believe,  con- 
templated by  those  who  introduced  it  ; 
yet  if  it  be  not  reconsidered  soon  it  will 
acquire  respectability  from  mere  acquie- 
scence. Time  and  experience  have  proved 
its  inherent  defects;  its  advantage  we  see  in 
the  keen  interest  which  the  trustees  now 
take  it  all  that  concerns  the  National 
Gallery.  The  suggestion  we  have  ventured 
to  put  forward,  though  no  more  than  a 
compromise,  appears  to  minimise  those 
defects  without  sacrificing  that  advantage. 


^  MR.  EPSTEIN'S  SCULPTURE  IN  THE  STRAND  r*^ 


HE  outcry  against  the 
building  of  the  British 
Medical  Association  was 
even  less  well  informed 
than  such  outcries  usually 
are,  yet  it  might  have 
been  serious  but  for  the  good  sense  and 
firmness  of  '  The  Times.'     It   is    curious 


that  these  violent  outbursts  should  almost 
invariably  select  really  original  and  first- 
rate  work  for  their  object  ;  still  more 
curious  perhaps  that  the  accusation  of 
indecency  should  have  been  levelled  in 
this  case  against  sculpture  of  which  the 
distinctive  characteristic  is  its  monume  ntal 
austerity. 


191 


^  THE  FRANCO-BRITISH     EXHIBITION  c*^ 


THE     FRENCH     SECTION 

POPULAR  venture  intermit- 
tently backed  by  tiie  official 
world  of  two  nations,  important 
I  owing  to  the  chance  of  politics, 
'at  once  reactionary  in  aim,  yet 
'  in  part  admirable  :  such  is  the 
character  of  the  Franco-British 
.Exhibition  at  Shepherd's  Bush 
— I  had  almost  said  Earl's  Court.  At  first  one  feels 
that  the  management  which  is  answerable  for  the 
Turco- Austrian  architecture  can  claim  part  author- 
ship in  some  of  the'  sculpture  represented,  that 
decorations  intendedifor  the  buildings  have  found 
a  place  in  the  galleries,  where  the  energetic  impres- 
arios of  the  exhibition  may  be  detected  in  works 
disguised  under  very  French  and  English  names  ; 
but  this  impression  passes,  and  we  find  among  the 
litter  of  exhibition  art  some  masterpieces  by  the 
giants  who  have  illustrated  the  nineteenth  century. 
My  business  is  with  the  French  section.  Unlike 
the  English  one,  this  is  confined  to  a  period  of 
production  which  excludes  even  the  survivors  from 
the  eighteenth  century  who  lived  into  the  nine- 
teenth, such  as  Prudhon,  Fragonard,  Houdon  and 
Clodion.  France,  however,  has  strengthened  her 
exhibit  by  a  group  of  monuments  by  her  great  sculp- 
tors, Barye,  Rude,  Carpeaux  and  Dalou  ;  whilst 
England,  forgetful  of  the  monumental  work  of  her 
one  great  sculptor,  Alfred  Stevens,  benefits  only 
by  one  work  (Watts's  Clytc),  which  is  not  of  recent 
production.  In  the  English  section  the  younger 
masters  have  been  practically  extinguished  by  bad 
placing ;  if  in  the  French  section  there  is  also  a 
predominance  of  work  which  has  lost  its  hold  even 
upon  the  market,  there  are  several  examples  by  the 
more  prominent  masters  of  the  New  Salon,  even 
the  reluctant  Monsieur  Rodin  being  present  with 
two  marvellous  busts.  With  the  works  of  the 
French  members  of  the  International  Society,  such 
as  A.  Besnard,  J.  E.  Blanche,  Cottet,  E.  Carriere, 
Bartolome,  I  have  no  space  to  deal  adequately  ;  it 
would  also  be  difficult  for  a  contemporary  to  write 
with  that  generosity  which  the  importance  of  their 
art  commands,  and  their  work  is  not  unfamiliar 
to  London.  The  bulk  of  this  article  must  of 
necessity  concern  itself  with  the  masterpieces 
done  some  years  ago,  though  no  system  has 
been  observed  in  the  arrangement  of  the  French 
section,  and  works  done  yesterday  are  placed  next 
to  those  of  the  past. 

Some  acknowledged  masterpieces  stand  in  the 
centre  of  the  Sculpture  Hall  ;  foremost  among  them 
is  the  Ugolino  by  Carpeaux.  We  have  to  revert  to 
The  Deposition  by  Michelangelo  to  find  a  design 
at  once  so  central  and  significant  as  this.  We  have 
but  to  think  of  the  wriggling  Laocoon  and  his 
Sons,  with  their  academic  anatomies,  meaningless 
hands,  and  the  lack  of  relation  of  the  figures  to 
each  other,  to  realize  the  beauty  of  this  tragic  work, 
which  stands  beyond  the  habit  and  range  of  Car- 

192 


peaux  as  the  Colhoni  stands  beyond   the  range  of 
Verrocchio.' 

I  have  to  confess  to  a  great  disappointment  in 
the  sketch  for  Carpeaux's  Flora  ;  it  shows  signs  of 
physical  fatigue  which  are  absent  from  the  final 
version.  The  Dead  Cavaignac  by  Rude  is  one  of 
the  great  triumphs  of  French  sculpture,  which  was 
so  fertile  in  masterpieces  during  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  current  estimate  of  modern  art 
tends  to  exaggerate  the  significance  of  modern 
landscape  painting  ;  it  is  in  sculpture,  in  the 
masterpieces  of  Barye,  Carpeaux  and  Rodin,  that 
the  highest  level  of  success  has  been  achieved.  They 
can  challenge  comparison  with  the  masters  of  the 
Renaissance.  But  the  study  of  art  is  ever  fertile 
in  surprises,  and  leads  constantly  to  unexpected 
'  transvaluations '  of  the  work  of  a  period.  We 
overrate  the  painting  of  the  eighteenth  centurv, 
hardly  as  yet  appreciate  its  sculpture  to  the  full, 
whilst  its  beautiful  architecture  remains  for  another 
.ceneration  to  understand.  How  shall  I  convey 
the  austere  tenderness,  the  dignity  and  realism 
which  characterize  the  effigy  of  G.  Cavaignac  ?  The 
rendering  of  the  head,  the  humble  anatomy,  the 
clinging  draperies,  each  and  all  are  beyond  praise  ; 
I  prize  this  noble  work  beyond  Holbein's  tragic 
Dead  Christ,  or  that  haunting  effigy  of  a  dead  man 
with  a  wreath  of  roses  by  that  great  modern 
Italian  sculptor  Bastianini,  to  whom  we  owe  three 
masterpieces  and  one  of  the  great  scandals  or 
bankruptcies  of  criticism  in  the  history  of  art." 

The  famous  statue  by  L.  Brian  is  half  lost 
against  a  wall  ;  close  to  it  is  a  tired  and  dirty  cast  of 
Falguere's  Martyr.  Falguere,  at  one  time  over- 
praised and  now  underrated,  is  represented  again 
by  an  enchanting  little  bronze  bas-relief  hung  in 
the  picture  gallery,  which  holds  also  Barye's 
fascinating  Tliesens  and  Minotaur  and  a  case  of 
small  bronzes  by  Dalou,  three  out  of  these  last 
having  been  seen  recently  in  London.  One  feels 
before  these  masterly  works  that  one  is  face  to 
face  with  some  priceless  addition  presented  to  the 
museum  of  some  impoverished  or  stingy  nation 
by  some  prince  of  finance,  and  not  before  the 
modern  work  of  a  man  who  once  counted 
like  Rodin  only  as  a  skilful  workman.  Paul 
Dubois's  famous  Et'e  and  bust  of  Paul  Baudry  have 
not  stood  too  well  the  test  of  time  ;  after  Rodin's 
busts  the  portrait  of  Baudry,  which  seemed  at  the 
time  of  its  production  an  epoch-making  work,  has 
lost  force  and  power.  If  the  sculpture  department 
holds  several  admirable  works  by  Carpeaux  and 
Rude,  there  are  disappointments,  notably  with 
Fremiet,  who  seems  too  tight  and  too  anecdotic  in 
aim  ;  there  are  also  countless  pretentious  and 
meaningless  female  nudes  flaunting  the  curves  of 
professional  hips  before  the  more  modest  male 
academics  of  the  British  sculptors,  who  face  them 

'The  sum  of  X^.ooo  would  secure  this  priceless  work  for  the 
nation. 
'  Rude  was  assisted  in  the  work  by  Christophe. 


The  Franco- British  Exhibition 


in  bashful  poses  suited  for  instant  purchase  by  the 
Chantrey  Bequest. 

Ingres  is  represented  by  a  masterpiece,  this  alone 
is  an  artistic  event ! — Ingres  who  still  remains  unin- 
telligible to  most  Englishmen.  Unlike  David,  who 
really  focused  the  reactionary  temper  of  an  epoch 
in  the  commonplace  terms  of  that  period,  Ingres 
is  no  mere  contemporary  of  Canova  and  Vigee- 
Lebrun.  Like  his  contemporary,  the  Englishman 
Blake,  Ingres  held  tenaciously  to  an  ideal  which 
ignored  the  limitations  of  his  time.  Something  of 
the  pontiff  or  prophet  characterized  both.  Blake 
thundered  to  a  chapel  audience  about  original 
innocence  and  about  the  might  in  the  Holy  Ghost 
of  Michelangelo  ;  there  was  a  chapel  fervour  in 
the  art  of  this  man  who  might  have  been  also  the 
founder  of  a  pre-Mormon  sect.  To  Ingres  be- 
longed the  culture  and  obstinacy  of  a  great  tradition : 
he  thundered  also  to  his  disciples  and  enemies, 
doubtless  explaining  to  Madame  Ingres  that  he, 
she  and  art  lived  in  an  '  ^poque  apostat '  !  But 
he  loved  art  only,  and  with  his  pencil  and  brush 
he  tracked  down  that  which  he  wished  to  see 
with  something  of  that  instinctive  grip  upon 
delicate  form  which  characterizes  Holbein  and 
Raphael.  If  Blake  despised  the  beauties  of  the 
noblest  painting  to  evolve  at  times  a  curious  and 
not  unlovely  workmanship  of  his  own,  leaving 
form,  which  he  worshipped,  to  the  chances  of  a 
'provincial'  practice,  Ingres  knew  his  qualities 
and  persisted  in  them  till  drawing  acquired  with 
him  a  new  quality  of  its  own,  unlike  the  balanced 
design  of  Raphael,  unlike  the  delicate  precision  of 
Holbein,  yet  allied  to  each — at  times  more  realistic, 
at  times  more  abstract,  but  rarely  failing  in  some 
strange  quality  of  emphasis  which  constitutes  the 
essence  of  art.  Baudelaire,  in  one  of  the  most 
searching  pieces  of  criticism  ever  penned,  analyzes 
the  extraordinary  quality  of  exaggeration  in 
Ingres's  drawing,  the  profound  sensuousness  which 
underlies  it,  and  its  freedom  from  academic 
vacancy.  Was  this  draughtsman's  quality  always 
present  in  his  subject  pieces  as  it  is  in  his  direct 
transcripts  from  nature  ?  It  is  often  there,  but  not 
always  ;  it  is  present  in  the  Sfratuiiice  at  Chantilly 
and  in  the  ]lrgi!  at  Brussels.  In  the  work  of  this 
arch-priest  of  perfection  we  shall  find  anticipations 
of  the  voluptuous  and  melancholy  figures  of  his 
pupil  Chasserieau,  represented  in  the  exhibition  by 
a  small  pensive  I'eiiits  rising  from  a  silent  sea 
under  the  grey  of  the  dawn. 

The  colour  and  pigment  of  Ingres's  portrait  of 
Bartolini  are  sober  and  fine  ;  the  painting  of  the 
left  hand  has  the  quality  of  some  masterpiece  of 
the  Renaissance.  The  drawing  of  the  coat  is 
worthy  of  Holbein,  the  painting  being  on  a  par 
with  that  of  Velazquez  when  a  young  man  or 
Courbet  at  his  best. 

Delacroix  fares  less  well  ;  he  is  represented  by  a 
superb  sketch  for  the  Louvre  ceiling,  but  the  ugly 


little  picture  of  Mivabcaii,  if  intelligent  in  concep- 
tion, lacks  the  pictorial  substance  or  the  emotional 
range  that  would  allow  full  scope  to  the  master's 
hand,  which  became  chilled,  outside  tasks 
not  calling  for  the  utmost  effort  and  emotion. 
To  Delacroix  belonged  an  astonishing  gift  of 
expressive  draughtsmanship  ;  to  a  great  plastic 
sense  he  has  added  a  sense  of  emotional  move- 
ment which  is  unparalleled  in  art  and  different 
in  kind  from  that  of  any  other  master.  His 
strange  and  emotional  sense  of  colour  was  often 
marred  by  the  uncertainties  of  his  practice  as  a 
painter.  If  the  very  size  of  his  designs  excludes 
the  beauties  of  iine  pigment,  in  his  sketches  we 
recognize  the  born  painter.  In  his  large  and 
noblest  work  Delacroix  is  one  of  the  great 
draughtsmen  of  the  century  ;  in  some  small  pic- 
tures, like  the  Mirabcau,  for  instance,  his  drawing 
becomes  cramped  and  the  colour  uncertain — even 
his  powers  as  a  designer  have  forsaken  him  here, 
and  we  long  in  its  place  for  some  masterpiece  like 
the  Combat  de  Chevaiix  dans  tine  Eciirie  or  the 
Hamlet.  Fortunately,  he  is  present  in  the  Wallace 
Collection  by  a  masterpiece,  the  Marino  Faliero, 
with  its  marvellously  painted  banners  and  columns, 
and  its  nobly  designed  Doge  in  white  on  the 
black  velvet  carpet.  I  would  hasten  past  Courbet's 
superb  La  Sieste,  the  adequate  but  not  supremely 
representative  pictures  by  Corot,  since  these 
painters  are  well  known  in  England.  The  small, 
sombre  and  laboured  little  Millet  is  a  masterpiece  ; 
it  is  dull  and  dingy  only  at  first  sight,  in  conception 
and  design  it  is  worthy  of  the  Louvre. ' 

I  have  hastened  past  Courbet,  yet  the  most 
fertile  and  sequent  efforts  in  French  painting  since 
i860  owe  their  impulse  to  him.  Manet,  Whistler, 
each  and  all  the  Impressionists,  have  at  some  time 
painted  in  his  dark  massive  manner,  whilst  the 
early  work  of  Legros  and  Carolus  Duran  reflects 
his  influence,  three  notable  pictures  by  the  latter 
being  one  of  the  pleasant  surprises  of  the  exhibi- 
tion. To  Courbet's  example,  modified  by  Impres- 
sionism and  the  influence  of  the  Ecole  des  Beaux- 
Arts,  we  may  ascribe  the  now  underrated  painting 
of  Bastien  Lepage,  represented  by  his  best  work, 
Les  Fains,  and  a  small  portrait  of  his  brother. 
Many  painters  of  uncertain  artistic  achievement, 
such  as  Butin,  Roll  and  Duez,  owe  the  salt  in  their 
better  work  to  the  example  of  Courbet,  modified 
by  the  developments  of  Impressionism.  To 
Courbet  belongs  the  largest  share  in  influencing 
French  painting  in  the  channel  of  direct  painting 
from  nature.  I  am  aware  of  a  side  influence 
from  Corot,  and  even  Millet,  but  this  has  been 
less  certain  and  less  constant,  and  has  to  be 
sought  for  more  in  Holland.  Another  cur- 
rent in  French  painting  may  be  said  to  start  with 
Chasserieau,  and  to  have  been  modified   by  the 

3  When  this  article  was  written  the  famous  drawings  by 
Ingres  and  Millet  were  not  on  view. 


The  Franco-British   Exhibition 

example  of  Ricard.  Each  artist  influenced  by  it 
developed  in  isolation,  and  none  have  achieved  as 
yet  their  full  meed  of  praise.  If  we  might  de- 
scribe Courbet's  naturalistic  movement  as  a  sort  of 
assertion  of  middle-class  feeling  for  substance  and 
fact,  the  stylists  about  whom  I  am  about  lo  write 
tended  towards  a  decorative  or  a  more  expressive 
or  intimate  type  of  art. 

In  a  former  number  of  this  magazine*  I  have 
warned  the  reader  not  to  overestimate  the  influ- 
ence of  Chass^rieau  upon  Puvis  de  Chavannes, 
represented  here  by  one  of  his  earliest  and  noblest 
works,  the  Decapitation  of  St.  John.  In  this 
synthetic  design,  in  the  rendering  of  the  draperies, 
rudimentary  tree  and  the  formal  rendering  of 
accessories,  we  recognize  the  unique  aspect  and 
temper  common  to  the  work  of  this  great  master  ; 
the  charming  and  singular  colour  unusual  in 
Puvis  can  be  ascribed  to  no  known  influence  ;  in 
the  exotic  perfume  which  envelops  the  Salome, 
however,  there  remains  an  indefinable  trace  of 
Chasserieau.^ 

Not  far  from  this  noble  picture  hangs  an  admir- 
able work,  The  Plague  in  Rome,  by  Delaunay, 
an  unequal  artist,  admirable  in  this  one  work, 
which  shows  the  influence  of  Chass^rieau,  whilst 
his  conscientious  portraits  reflect  a  remote  in- 
fluence of  Ricard.  Ricard,  the  magician,  the 
supreme  painter  of  women  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, whom  I  should  have  mentioned  earlier  in 
this  article,  is  represented  in  the  next  room  by  a 
thoughtful  portrait  of  a  man,  skied  to  make  room 
for  some  nondescript  modern  work,  and  by  a 
study  of  a  woman  who  waits  and  watches  in  the 
golden  twilight  of  the  picture  with  haunting  eyes 
and  lips  like  some  pensive  flower. 

Perhaps  another  generation  may  recognize  quite 
readily  that  in  expression,  variety  and  delicacy 
Turner,  Ricard  and  Watts  are  the  original  and 
subtle  technicians  of  the  century,  and  not  Courbet 
or  Corot  and  Manet.  Perhaps  it  is  unwise  to 
prophesy,  since  all  great  emotional  or  thoughtful 
work  requires  emotion  and  thought  in  the  spec- 
tator. Our  civilization  has  witnessed  the  indiffer- 
ence of  three  centuries  to  the  noble  primitives  ; 
Tiepolo,  Watteau  and  Houdon  have  each  at  one 
time  been  forgotten  ;  Alfred  Stevens  is  still  unfa- 
miliar to  English  sculptors  ;  while  France  has  for- 
gotten the  marvellous  art  of  Paul  Baudry,  who 
died  little  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 

A  profound  study  of  the  great  Italians  resulted 
in  one  of  the  most  astonishing  and  daring  creations 
in  the  history  of  painting— namely,  Baudry's  cycle 
of  decorations  in  the  foyer  of  the  Paris  Opera. 
The  sudden  fame  of  these  works  can  be  estimated 

*  See  The  Burlington  Magazine,  vol.xiii,  pp  9,  ff.;  (April, 
1908), 

0  Would  that  this  rare  picture  could  be  secured  for  the  nation 
for  ;£i,ooo  before  it  is  too  late,  for  the  pictures  by  this  master  are 
as  rare  in  number  as  the  now  unobtainable  work  of  some 
Italian  masters  of  the  past. 


in  contemporary  writing  ;  then  followed  a  period 
of  eclipse  as  sudden  and  absolute  as  that  which 
overlook  Tiepolo  a  few  years  after  his  death. 

Baudry's  famous  portrait  of  Madeleine  Brohan 
here  exhibited  counts  among  the  portraits  of  the 
century.  The  painting  of  the  hands  and  mouth 
is  wonderful  ;  nothing  could  surpass  the  luminous 
tones  of  the  flesh  ;  as  yet  time  has  not  made  in- 
teresting to  us  the  ugly  but  beautifully  rendered 
dress  and  Castellani  jewels  or  some  of  the  acces- 
sories. I  had  imagined  that  Baudry's  elegant  and 
'militant'  portraits  might  interest  me  but  little; 
that  the  reverence  and  affection  with  which  I 
viewed  his  decorations  might  fail  me  in  his  rather 
restless  rendering  of  the  women  of  his  time  ;  but 
this  picture  enchants  me,  and  I  am  appalled  to 
think  that  this  great  artist  is  often  dismissed  among 
faded  academicians. 

It  is  well  known   that  Chass^rieau   influenced 
the  strange,  complex  art  of  Gustave  Moreau,  but 
this  can  be  overstated.     This  curious  and  unequal 
artist  is  represented  by  a  St.  George  and  the  Dragon 
which  expresses  only  one   side   of   the   painter's 
bent,  where  he  appears  as  a  sort  of  enameller  or 
weaver  of  strange  patterns  in  paint.     Capable  of 
amazing  intensity  of  expression  in  such  works  as 
the  Hercides  and  the  Hydra  ;  of  a  haunting  and 
musical  vein  of  invention  in  his  David,  exhibited 
many  years  ago  in  London,  or  in  that  early  and 
fascinating  picture  where  a  nymph  passes  holding 
the  head  of  Orpheus,  which  is  one  of  the  gems  of 
the    Luxembourg,    in  the   St.  George  he  aims  at 
the  effect  of  some  fairy  tale  in  a  picture  \vhich  is 
sudden  and  visionary  in  aspect,  but  not  sufficiently 
fused  or  melodious.  Compared  with  great  painting 
and  great   drawing,  Moreau's  work   is   thin  and 
feverish.     Compared  with  what  is  often  accepted  as 
good   painting   and   drawing — in   the    output   of 
Courbet  and  Manet,  for  instance— it  becomes  pro- 
foundly   sensitive    and   expressive.     I    owe   to  a 
malicious  friend  the  statement  that  Moreau's  later 
years  were  embittered    by  some  photographs  he 
saw  of  the  work  of    Burne-Jones,  in  which   he 
probably   divined   a   coherence   and    element   of 
fusion  in  which  his  work  is  lacking  ;  that  he  raged 
against  Whistler  and  the  Impressionists,  feeling  the 
vacancy  of  much  of  their  work  and  the  mental 
vulgarity   and     bigotry   which    characterize     the 
followers  of  their  cult.     Moreau,  Puvis  and  Degas 
once   were   friends ;    with   time   their   friendship 
wore  badly,  and  each  lived  to  deplore  the  blatancy 
of  much  contemporary  painting  without  realizing 
that  art  can  be  good  only  with  a  few  masters,  and 
that  the  average  tendencies  are  valueless  now,  as 
they  have  been  in  the  past. 

The  veteran  academician  Hebert  (a  pupil  of 
Ricard)  exhibits  three  pictures.  These  are  at  once 
interesting  and  unpleasant,  though  more  significant 
than  many  pictures  painted  almost  yesterday  by 
other  members  of  the  old  Salon.     Together  with 


194 


The  Franco-British  Exhibition 


such  veterans  as  J.  P.  Laurens  and  L.  Bonnat  (that 
noble  collector  of  old  and  modern  art)  he  stands 
far  above  the  exhibits  by  the  conservative  section 
of  the  Salon.  E.  Detaille,  with  The  Victims  of  Duty, 
achieves  a  triumph  in  all  that  art  should  not 
be.  In  vulgarity  of  conception,  ugly  colour  and 
paint  and  nerveless  drawing,  this  is  easily  the 
worst  picture  in  the  entire  exhibition.  I  believe 
that  no  royalty  in  Europe  has  missed  visiting 
this  painter's  studio.  One  feels  that  the  German 
Emperor  would  give  back  the  French  pro- 
vinces to  claim  the  art  of  Detaille  for  the 
Fatherland.  Nothing  in  the  English  section  shows 
so  profound  an  indifference  to  all  that  makes  for 
art.  It  is  with  a  sigh  of  relief  that  one  turns  from 
such  a  work  to  the  wall  given  over  to  the  Impres- 
sionists. The  great  quality  of  fresh  instinctive 
painting  in  the  work  of  Manet  was  revealed  to  the 
English  public  some  three  years  ago  at  the  Grafton 
Galleries  ;  two  important  paintings  of  his  (one  of 
them  a  masterpiece)  now  represent  him  at  Dublin. 
In  the  Franco-British  Exhibition  he  is  represented 
by  Le  Liseiir,  an  early  and  somewhat  lifeless  work, 
and  by  a  large  still-life,  La  Brioche,  which  is  inky 
in  tone — better,  but  not  greatly  so,  than  a  good 
Vollon.  The  Jeanne  represents  a  later  phase  of 
his  practice  which  has  influenced  countless  painters 
in  the  Salon.  At  his  best  Manet  has  painted  en- 
chanting pictures  ;  at  his  worst  his  work  merges 
into  the  output  of  a  period  which  he  helped  to 
influence.  Renoir  fares  better  ;  all  his  three  works 
are  typical,  one  of  them.  La  Loge,  counting  among 
his  best  pictures.  If  Renoir  is  the  most  unequal 
painter  of  the  nineteenth  century  he  is  at  his 
best  less  impersonal  in  his  outlook  than  his  fellow 
Impressionists.  If  Manet  saw  actual  local  colour 
in  broad  sudden  patches  with  something  of  the 
transposition  in  their  relation  which  characterizes 
the  vision  of  a  man  of  defective  eyesight,  Renoir 
broods  by  preference  over  bright  summer  colours 
and  sees  them  like  a  tangle  of  coloured  silks.  At 
the  start  his  work  was  influenced  by  Fantin  Latour. 
The  singularly  unequal  quality  of  his  output  may 
be  ascribed  not  merely  to  the  tyranny  of  an 
acquired  formula  which  has  burdened  most  Impres- 
sionists but  to  failing  health,  some  of  his  canvases 
having  been  painted  of  necessity  with  the  left  hand. 
The  absence  of  Degas  (probably  at  his  express 
wish)  renders  the  discussion  of  one  of  the  most 
complex  and  fascinating  personalities  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  beyond  the  scope  of  this  article. 
The  effect  of  the  Impressionistgroup  is  unforeseen  ; 
each  of  them,  Monet  even,  seems  tranquil  in 
aspect  when  compared  with  the  conventional  works 
of  the  old  Salon  hanging  by.  Whatever  may  be 
the  future  estimate  of  the  value  of  this  school,  both 
in  conscious  aim  and  in  result,  their  practice  shows 
always  a  genuine  love  of  their  profession  and  a 
genuine  love  of  nature.  The  space  at  my  disposal 
does   not  allow  me  to  analyze  and  praise  other 


quite  modern  works  by  friends  and  contemporaries. 
I  can  only  express  a  genuine  pleasure  in  seeing 
again  pictures  that  I  liked  in  my  youth,  such  as 
Cazin's  decoration  and  Besnard's  charming  por- 
trait group  of  his  children.  I  am  delighted  to 
praise  the  St.  John  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes  which 
I  admired  in  his  studio,  and  to  be  able  to  state  in 
print  that  it  is  time  to  do  justice  to  Baudry.  I  am 
pained  by  the  practical  absence  in  both  sections 
of  a  picture  by  a  master  and  friend,  A.  Legros. 

Despite  gaps  in  representation,  errors  in  prece- 
dence, and  the  atmosphere  of  jobbery  which  cha- 
racterizes all  universal  exhibitions,  there  remains  a 
fairly  sequent  series  of  representative  works  illus- 
trating the  art  of  France  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
These  are  shown  among  others  that  are  on  the 
mental  level  with  the  switchbacks  and  other 
popular  attractions  of  this  show  at  Shepherd's 
Bush. 

Charles  Ricketts. 

THE  BRITISH    SECTION 

The  British  Art  Committee  of  the  Franco-British 
Exhibition,  which  includes  so  many  presidents  of 
different  societies,  might  well  have  invited  the 
directors  of  our  permanent  galleries  to  their 
august  councils.  Mr.  Claude  Phillips  would 
surely  have  not  been  de  trap,  and  Sir  Charles 
Holroyd  and  Mr.  D.  S.  MacColl  with  their 
wonderful  and  recently  proved  capacity  for  hang- 
ing, apart  from  their  knowledge  and  sympathies 
in  English  art,  might  have  prevented  certain  errors 
of  omission  and  commission.  All  committees, 
especially  in  connexion  with  art,  are  of  course  a 
mistake.  An  ideal  committee  should  consist  of 
two  persons  with  power  to  reduce  their  number  ; 
Caesarism  is  the  only  possible  alternative.  Directors 
should  be  dictators.  The  great  European  collec- 
tions which  we  admire,  whether  in  a  municipal 
building  or  at  an  auction  room,  were  formed 
by  one  man's  taste  or  at  one  man's  discretion. 
Nearer  home,  in  a  city  seldom  held  up  for  a 
model,  the  admirable  tyranny  of  Mr.  Hugh  P. 
Lane  has  brought  together  the  finest  public 
collection  of  modern  pictures  in  existence,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  those  at  Birmingham 
and  Manchester.  But  the  English  rivals  devoted 
years  where  Mr.  Lane  has  given  months  to  his 
objective.  Even  at  Shepherd's  Bush  the  most 
happily  chosen  group  of  modern  pictures  is  to 
be  found,  not  in  the  British  Pavilion  at  all,  but 
in  the  remote  and  otherwise  foolish  Irish  Village. 
It  is  quite  worth  the  extra  sixpence,  however,  to 
see  what  the  persuasive  talent  of  Mr.  Lane  can 
achieve,  and  ethnologically  to  realise  the  un- 
expected Celtic  talent  in  our  midst. 

In  this  more  democratic  country  nothing  can 
be  done  without  a  committee  ;  else  the  public 
might  suspect  unfairness,  prejudice  and  jealousy, 
characteristically      un-English      faults     confined 


The   Franco-British   Exhibition 


entirely  to  other  nations.  The  significant  names  of 
Mr.  Francis  Bate,  of  the  New  English  Art  Club, 
and  Sir  Charles  Lawes-Wittewronge,  Bart.,  seem 
guarantees  that  any  mistakes  are  due  not  to 
insufficient  knowledge  of  contemporary  art,  to 
prejudice,  internal  dissensions,  lack  of  catholicity 
or  taste.  Wisely  perhaps,  it  has  been  assumed 
that  our  French  visitors  will  spend  their  Sundays, 
when  the  Exhibition  is  closed,  at  the  Burlington 
Fine  Arts  Club  (in  order  to  correct  preconceived 
ideas  of  English  pre-Reformation  Art)  or  at  the 
National  and  Tate  Galleries,  which  fill  up  fairly 
enough  the  lacunae  in  a  necessarily  exiguous 
display.  An  invitation  to  tea  with  Mr.  Herbert 
Trench  at  Richmond  is  the  easiest  way  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  art  of  Mr.  Wilson  Steer,  one 
of  our  leading  landscape  painters,  of  whom  the 
French  may  have  heard  more  than  some  of  the 
committee  seem  to  have  done.  Permission  to 
visit  the  wonderful  silk  paintings  of  Mr.  Charles 
Conder  belonging  to  Mr.  Edmund  Davis  will  be  a 
privilege  such  as  the  Exhibition  does  not  afford  : 
for  one  of  the  most  original  and  exquisite  English 
artists  is  unrepresented. 

English  painting  has  always  been  a  Cinderella 
among  the  schools  of  Europe.  Denied  or  neglected 
abroad,  her  treatment  at  home  has  hardly  been 
creditable  to  our  patriotism.  She  has  been  hustled 
by  her  older  and  plainer  sisters.  Religion  and 
Literature,  who  have  pulled  her  ball  dress  to  tatters 
in  trying  to  get  it  on  themselves,  and  have  en- 
larged the  glass  slippers  out  of  all  recognition  in 
order  to  fit  their  splay  extremities.  When  she  is 
allowed  to  be  seen,  she  has  always  been  arrayed  as 
the  handmaid  of  something.  She  has  been  a 
'tweeny'  in  the  House  of  Intellect,  the  victim  of 
kitchen  politics  below  stairs  ;  she  has  suffered 
from  a  want  of  unity  of  purpose  or  singleness  of 
aim  ;  she  has  had  to  please  too  many  masters  as 
well  as  herself — sometimes  the  public,  sometimes 
the  publican,  the  dealer, or  the  nonvcanx  riches.  She 
was  snubbed  by  the  church  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  rescued  by  the  moralitarian  in  the  nine- 
teenth ;  and  hers  is  the  head  on  which  all  the  odds 
and  ends  of  the  world  are  flung.  No  wonder  the 
French  critics  find  that  our  art  is  odd  when  it  is 
subjected  to  such  odd  treatment  by  those  at 
home. 

Who  does  not  remember  the  shocking  collection 
of  British  pictures  in  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1900  ? 
The  impression  left  on  the  French  critics  was  only 
partly  modified  by  the  small  and  rare  collection  of 
deceased  masters  at  the  English  Pavilion  in  the  Rue 
des  Nations.  At  Shepherd's  Bush  we  have  risked 
a  similar  eventuality.  In  the  Old  Masters  section, 
inadequate  only  perhaps  owing  to  space,  there  is 
at  all  events  evidence  of  an  individual  taste  unrav- 
aged  by  the  dissensions  of  a  committee.  Here  are 
great  masterpieces  by  Gainsborough  :  The  Duchess 
of  Cumberland   and    The   Blue   Boy,  typical  with 

196 


others  of  English  painting  at  its  highest.  They 
illustrate  that  Gothic  element  which  Ruskin  subtly 
detected  in  the  most  Romanesque  of  our  portrait 
painters.  Ruskin  insists — and  the  point  is  not 
so  fantastic  as  you  would  suppose — that  Gains- 
borough is  more  interested  in  the  faces  of  his  sitters 
than  in  their  bodies,  in  expression  rather  than  form. 
This  is  true  even  of  modern  artists  furthest  re- 
moved from  any  Gothic  inspiration  ;  note  the 
portrait  of  Lord  Robeiis  by  Charles  Furse,  that  of 
a  beloved  servant  of  his  government  rather  than 
an  ideal  general.  How  true  even  is  it  of  Watts, 
the  torch-bearer  of  tradition,  the  Italian  tradition 
in  English  painting  !  This  was  apparent  at  the 
New  Gallery  recently,  where  his  picture  hung  be- 
side the  Latin  triumphs  of  France.  Here,  he  is  in 
an  entirely  Gothic  environment  and  seems  Latin 
enough  by  comparison.  It  is  easy  to  understand 
why  the  French  admire  Lawrence  so  much  more 
than  we  do  ourselves ;  why  we  underrate,  and  why 
they  possibly  overrate  him.  V'erlaine  once  ob- 
served in  the  course  of  a  lecture  that  we  were  still 
Gothic  in  our  art,  our  literature  and  our  life,  while 
France  had  put  the  Middle  Ages  away  tenderly  in 
a  museum.  Even  S.  Paul's — outwardly  a  Renais- 
sance building,  if  ever  there  was  one — is  con- 
structed on  Gothic  principles,  and  the  pediment  of 
the  facade  is,  I  am  assured,  only  a  gable. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  programme  for 
English  painting  promulgated  by  Reynolds  in  his 
'  Discourses  '  was  never  carried  out  seriously  ;  all 
his    recommendations    were   either    ignored    or 
actually  reversed  in  practice  ;  he  hardly  took  the 
trouble  to  carry  all  of  them  out  himself.     He  im- 
plored the  students  to  go  to   Italy  and  copy  Old 
Masters  ;  they  stayed  at   home  and  copied  him  ; 
or  they  took  Gainsborough  as  their  model  and 
studied  their  own  scenery  as  the  Norwich  painters 
did.     The  valuable  Latin  element  in  our  art,  such 
as  it  is,  comes  down,  however,  through  Reynolds ; 
but  it  is  a  Latinism  that  has  suffered  a  considerable 
sea  change.     It  must  be  accepted  that  the  English 
School  has  no  Ingres,  no  Andrea  del  Sarto.    Those 
conscientious  painters  who  tried  to  carry  out  the 
recommendations   of    the   great    President   failed 
dismally:  they  were  splendidly  null  without  being 
icily  regular  ;  of  them  there  are  happily  few  or  no 
examples  at  Shepherd's  Bush,  so  far  as  the  eigh- 
teenth century  is  concerned.     But  if  portraiture  is 
superbly     represented     by     Hogarth,    Reynolds, 
Hoppner  and  Rom'.ey,  and  other  painters,  the  by 
no   means   lesser  glory  of    English   landscape  is 
hardly   allowed   to   shine.      An    entirely   English 
landscape   by   Turner    would    have   been    more 
apposite  than  the  beautiful  Mercury  and  Herse  or 
even  than  the  noble  Quillebceuf.   The  large  picture 
ascribed  to  Cotman,  the  authenticity  of  which  was 
canvassed  when  it  was  shown  at  Burlington  House 
some  years  ago,  is  hung  too  high  for  examination. 
The  Moonlight  Scene  given  to  old  Crome  is  by  his 


The  FrancO'Eritish  Exhibition 


son,  John  Berney  Crome.*  There  is,  however,  a 
fine  Wilson  belonging  to  Mr.  Harhmd  Peck  and  a 
particularly  excellent  Ibbetson,  who,  in  the  absence 
of  striking  rivals,  assumes  greater  importance  than 
we  should  accord  him.  The  Barker  of  Bath  is 
unusually  poor  ;  an  opportunity  has  been  lost  for 
rehabilitating  an  undeservedly  neglected  Old 
Master.  Though  the  large  Dcdiiaiii  ]^a!e  will  have 
a  particular  interest  for  French  artists  (who  owe, 
traditionally,  so  much  to  a  painter  of  whose  tech- 
nique they  must  have  hazy  notions,  if  they  examine 
the  average  Paris  Constalsle),  it  was  a  pity  to  in- 
clude two  smaller  works  one  of  which  is  by  a  well- 
known  imitator,  and  the  other,  apparently,  by  a 
member  of  the  Norwich  School. 

If  the  Canlcibiiiy  Pilgrims,  by  William  Blake, 
was  going  to  be  hung  at  all,  it  should  not  have 
been  skied.  There  are  reasons,  indeed,  for  placing 
it  among  the  Preraphaelites  as  a  kind  of  link  or 
key  to  the  school  which  owed  something  to  the 
artist's  inspiration.  But  it  is,  after  all,  an  eighteenth- 
century  criticism  of  mediaevalism,  though  painted 
in  1 8  ID,  and  Blake  belongs  to  that  century  as  much 
as  the  poet  Gray.  He  was  simply  a  Goth  who 
woke  up  before  the  others  ;  and  his  was  not  a  run- 
away knock  at  Strawberry  Hill  in  the  sense  that 
Ciiatterton's  undoubtedly  was.  The  Pilgtiiiis  should 
have  been  hung  beside  the  Gainsboroughs  and 
Keynoldses  by  way  of  contrast,  in  order  to  empha- 
size the  important  circumstance  that  the  English 
School  is  ahvays  one  of  surprises  concerned  with 
side  issues  ;  anarchic,  individual,  and  attracting 
genius  into  by-paths  without  unity  of  aim. 

The  most  conspicuous  things  in  the  Pre- 
raphaelite  room  are,  symbolically  enough,  an 
emergency  exit  (occupying  the  place  of  honour) 
and  ihe.  Golden  Slain  o{  Burne-Jones,  which  seems 
a  gracious  and  gentle  ladder  by  which  we  can 
descend  into  the  arena  of  contemporary  art.  But 
before  we  clutch  the  bannister  let  us  pay  homage 
to  certain  works — Lc  Chant  d'Ainonr  of  Burne- 
Jones,  the  gorgeous  Autnnin  Leaves  of  Millais, 
the  radiant  YVoik  of  Madox  Brown,  and  (pretend- 
ing not  to  see  The  Blessed  Dainosel)  the  Mariana 
and  Bower  Meadow  of  Rossetti — though  neither  of 
them  can  be  reckoned  among  the  artist's  master- 
pieces.    The  rare  and  delightful  Queen  Gninevere 

•  Mr.  Ross's  conclusion  is  natural  enough,  for  the  open  texture 
of  the  piinting,  as  well  as  the  subject,  may  seem  at  first  sight 
to  be  more  in  (he  manner  of  John  Berney  Crome  than  of  his 
father.  Yet  many  of  those  who  have  followed  the  career  of  the 
father  and  son  with  attention  will  feel  that  the  superb  painting 
of  the  orb  of  the  moon  and  the  mills  in  front  of  il  has  just  that 
quality  which  the  older  man  obtains  in  his  happiest  moments, 
but  of  which  the  son  was  never  able  to  produce  more  than  a 
rough  imitation.  The  loose  handling  of  the  unfinished  trees 
and  foreground  illustrates  Crome's  study  of  Gainsborough, 
whose  influence  is  seen  in  Crome's  sketches  more  frequently 
than  in  his  pictures,  which  were  usually  worked  up  to  the  current 
ideals  of  finish.  It  may  be  permissible,  therefore,  to  see  in  this 
Moonlight  a  noble  unfinished  study  by  John  Crome,  in  spite  of 
its  external  resemblance  to  the  facile  night  pieces  of  his  far  less 
gifted  son. — Ed. 


of  William  Morris  is  shamefully  hung  too  high. 
It  is  one  of  the  few  pictures  Morris  ever  painted, 
and  technically  it  has  a  particular  interest  because 
the  handling  has  not  any  apparent  relation  to 
Rossetti  or  Madox  Brown.  In  its  very  dryness  it 
is  more  mediaeval  than  any  of  their  pictures,  or 
that  of  the  other  Preraphaelites,  save  the  early 
Magi  by  Burne-Jones.  Though  (to  use  a  hateful 
word  pregnant  with  possible  error)  it  is  entirely 
decorative,  it  has  none  of  the  falsehoods  with 
which  decoration,  in  its  proper  sense,  must  alone 
concern  itself.  Still,  it  is  perfectly  pictorial  with 
all  the  wealth  of  accessory  you  find  in  a  picture  by 
Carpaccio  or  some  Fleming. 

The  Greeks  very  nearly  solved  in  marble, 
assisted  with  colour,  the  problem  of  unifying 
truth  and  pattern  which  Morris  has  here 
attempted  in  oil  :  we  are  often  deceived  by 
the  verisimilitude  of  their  bas-relief ;  but  their 
sense  of  style  provoked  the  necessary  and  in- 
valuable lie  of  isocephaly,  by  which  even  the 
youths  and  the  horses  of  the  Parthenon  have  no 
actuality.  Pergamene  realism,  an  unconscious 
longing  for  photography,  brought  antique  art  to 
an  end  long  before  its  destruction  by  Roman 
connoisseurs.  Hence  the  errors  of  Renaissance 
sculptors,  who  were  deceived,  partly  by  the 
antiques  of  a  rather  late  date,  and  partly,  along 
with  the  painters,  by  the  still  dimly  understood 
aesthetics  of  Aristotle.  A  truth  in  decoration 
must  be  a  pictorial  fib ;  or  you  relapse  into 
admiration  of  views  of  towns  on  the  more 
atrocious  Worcester  ware,  Tintern  Abbey  on  the 
coal-scuttle,  and  other  examples  of  'nature  in  art.' 
Morris  came  to  believe  that  all  pictures  as  separate 
entities  were  a  mistake.  In  Queen  GnineTere  he 
seems  to  have  been  trying  to  effect  a  compromise 
by  painting  an  isolated  piece  of  decoration,  which 
in  another  sense  every  picture  becomes,  if  it  be  a 
good  one.  Yet  it  is  a  dangerous  experiment,  and 
its  repetition  became  later  on  a  stumbling  block  to 
the  English  School,  though  few  will  deny  that 
Morris  has  succeeded  delightfully.  So-called 
decorati\e  pictures  painted  without  any  relation 
to  some  definite  place  they  are  destined  to  occupy 
are  usually  dismal  performances,  even  when  tlie 
archaism  and  the  conventionalism  are  not  excuses 
for  incompetence.  Unusually  well  represented  is 
another  freak  of  the  English  School,  Simeon 
Solomon,  whom  Burne-Jones  is  said  to  have 
appraised  as  the  'greatest  artist  of  us  all.'  One  of 
his  best  pictures,  The  Mother  of  Moses  (badly 
hung),  belonging  to  Mr.  W.  G.  Rawlinson,  when 
exhibited  in  the  Academy  called  forth  in  the 
'Cornhiir  the  admiration  of  Thackeray,  a  surpris- 
ing champion.  The  Loi'e  in  U'inler,  though  weakly 
drawn,  is  also  a  beautiful  example.  Too  many 
people  only  know  of  Solomon's  hideous  chalk 
drawings,  which,  executed  when  he  was  simk  in 
the  lowest  depths  of  drink  and  misery,  have  no 

197 


The  Franco-British   Exhibition 

artistic  significance  or  interest.  His  early  pictures 
go  far  to  justify  Burne-]ones's  opinion  of  him. 
Though  conveniently  grouped  with  the  Pre- 
raphaelites  he  is  remote  from  the  principles  as 
practised  by  the  brothers  or  as  laid  down  for  them 
by  Ruskin  ;  nor  did  he  follow  the  advice  of  the 
poet  in  the  'Bab  Ballads'  who  took  'nature  for 
his  only  guide.' 

An  everyday  tragedy  in  England  is  that  other 
people  manage  your  business  better  than  you  can 
yourself.  That  is  why  we  are  a  God-fearing  and 
interfering  nation.  Even  the  Preraphaelite  man- 
ner was  carried  to  greater  perfection  by  those  who 
were  never  members  of  the  brotherhood.  You 
could  not  find  a  better  or  more  typical  portrait  of 
the  school  than  the  Mrs.  Stephen  Lewis  of  Frederick 
Sandys,  an  artist  who  must  be  seen  in  small  quan- 
tities. A  number  of  his  works  recently  brought 
together  showed  that  he  never  fulfilled  his  early 
promise  ;  and  his  recent  work,  like  Solomon's,  was 
detestable  :  he  is  seemingly  ill  at  ease  with  his  pig- 
ment, though  his  pen  drawings  are  unsurpassable. 
That  he  was  a  Norwich  painter  gives  him  an 
historical  importance  of  peculiar  interest. 

The  marvellous  Val  d'Aosta  of  Brett  is  in  some 
ways  the  most  remarkable  picture  in  the  room. 
Hardly  with  exaggeration  it  may  be  called  the 
most  astonishing  landscape  in  the  English  School. 
It  violates  with  breezy  vigour  every  canon  of  land- 
scape, and  was  obviously  painted  on  the  eloquent 
prescription  of  Ruskin.  Everything  is  there : 
nothing  is  suggested,  nothing  but  the  sleeping 
child  in  the  foreground  is  composed.  It 
treats  the  spectacle  of  mountain  and  meadow 
like  a  section  of  the  human  frame  in  a  book 
on  anatomy ;  it  might  be  a  surgeon's  note 
of  his  summer  holiday ;  or  the  frontispiece 
for  a  tract  on  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to 
landscape.  Human  ingenuity  in  paint  could 
hardly  go  any  further  ;  though  art  has  often  done 
so.  At  the  same  time,  if  we  cannot  accept  it  as  a 
model  of  what  landscape  oughtto  be,  let  us  recognize 
its  beauty  and  pay  a  tribute  to  the  painter  for  his 
perfect  success  in  what  he  attempted.  He  has 
tried  what  primitives  tried  charmingly  enough 
in  the  backgrounds  of  their  pictures  —  more 
especially  the  Flemings.  But  Brett's  success 
seems  to  show  the  futility  of  the  emprise  ;  he 
does  not  give  us  the  same  aesthetic  pleasure 
that  we  derive  from  the  stammering  failures  of 
the  Old  Masters  ;  this  is  art  in  \{s  second  childhood. 
Moreover,  Brett,  it  must  be  noted,  never  followed 
up  this  daring  tour  dc  force  ;  or  that  of  the  more 
beautiful  Stotiebreaker,  or  the  only  less  clever  sea- 
scape, Britannia's  Realm,  neither  of  which  are 
shown  here.  He  became  the  commonplace  deli- 
neator of  sham  realistic  sea  views.  Truth,  how- 
ever, he  undoubtedly  achieved,  coming  nearer  to 
that  combination  of  a  truth  in  art  and  a  truth  in 
nature  than  almost  any  other  English  landscape 

198 


painter.  The  great  landscape  painters  willingly  or 
unwillingly  adjust  the  balance,  faking  one  or  the 
other  scale.  Wilson,  Turner,  Cotman  and  Crome 
and  Constable  selected,  suppressed  or  emphasized. 
The  artist's  unalterable  prerogative,  of  which  Brett 
refused  to  avail  himself,  must  not  be  confused 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  Impressionists  :  the  error 
of  their  critics,  who  complain  of  their  lack  of  finish, 
or  the  error  of  their  defenders  who,  maintain  that 
there  is  nothing  more  to  see  or  to  be  recorded. 
When  a  youthful  enthusiast  confessed  to  Ruskin 
that  he  thought  the  Val  d'Aosta  was  better  than 
Titian  he  was  corrected  by  the  sage,  who  replied, 
'  Different  from  Titian.'  We  should  compare  it 
with  such  pictures  as  Crossing  the  Brook,  by  Turner, 
and  others,  where  great  distances  are  superbly 
rendered,  or  with  such  miserable  productions  as 
Over  the  Hills  and  Far  Aicay  (hung  where  Walker's 
Plough  ought  to  have  been).  It  is  undoubtedly  as 
different  from  them  as  from  Titian. 

William  Dyce's  George  Herbert  at  Beinerton  is 
another  interesting  work  by  an  unassociated  Pre- 
raphaelite,  wrought  with  greater  skill  than  the 
originators  sometimes  commanded,  always  except- 
ing Millais,  that  great  amphibian,  who  was  half 
artist,  half  academician  from  his  birth. 

No  example  of  Edward  Calvert — like  his  master 
Blake,  a  side  issue  in  the  English  school — is  to  be 
found  at  Shepherd's  Bush.  One  of  his  largest 
and  most  important  pictures  is  at  the  Luxembourg, 
but  he  is  unknown  at  the  Tate  or  the  National 
Gallery.  French  critics  see  in  him,  with  all  his 
defects  of  draughtsmanship,  an  interesting  mani- 
festation of  English  art  synchronizing  with  their 
own— Fantin  Latour  and  Puvis,  whose  work  he 
could  never  have  seen.  He  is  more  Graeco-Latin 
than  any  Englishman.  Again  you  lament  the 
absence  of  George  Richmond,  the  first  English- 
man who  could  handle  religious  and  historical  sub- 
jects in  oil  (Blake  never  succeeded  in  that  medium) 
without  the  insipidity  characteristic  of  post-Refor- 
mation art.  Alfred  Stevens,  our  great,  perhaps  our 
only  great,  draughtsman,  is  also  unrepresented. 
Since  Whistler  is  included  in  the  Black  and  White 
section  of  an  exhibition  where  Mr.  Pennell  and 
Mr.  Sargent  are  both  exhibitors,  why  are  there 
none  of  his  pictures,  which  liave  so  profoundly 
influenced  the  younger  generation  ?  This  parti- 
cular omission  is  inexcusable. 

In  the  water-colour  rooms,  where  you  would 
have  thought  the  committee  might  have  roused 
itself  to  justify  almost  the  only  artistic  reputa- 
tion we  have  in  France,  the  display  is  quite 
deplorable.  Some  brilliant  Rossettis  (notably 
Ophelia's  Madness  and  the  superb  Paolo  and 
Francesca),  The  Green  Summer  and  Backgammon 
by  Burne-Jones  illuminate  one  wall ;  and  others 
by  J.  F.  Lewis  and  Ruskin  are  all  worth  careful 
study.  But  the  famous  early  English  water-colour 
school  to  which  Britons  are  patriotically  attached 


The  Franco-British  Exhibition 


Cand  generally  spoil  with  gold  mounts)  like  Uncle 
Adam  in  Stevenson's  story  make  'an  awful  poor 
appearance.'  There  is  nothing  absolutely  dazzling 
by  Turner  ;  the  John  Robert  Cozens  is  a  wretched 
specimen  ;  Cotman  is  absent ;  and  there  is  only 
one  Girtin.  We  can  only  goodhumouredly  echo 
the  hearty  laughter  of  the  French  visitors  over 
this  particular  section  on  a  day  when  there  was 
nothing  much  to  laugh  at.  How  much  better  if 
all  the  pictures  had  been  chosen  by  Mr.  Marion 
Spielmann,  whose  taste  is  obvious  in  such  excel- 
lent choice  as  there  is  ;  or  to  any  ONE  member  of 
the  committee,  however  much  you  might  have 
deprecated  his  selection. 

The  charming  Renaissance  of  Venus  by  Mr. 
Walter  Crane  is  a  fair  haven  from  which  to 
embark  on  a  rapid  survey  of  the  modern  section 
of  British  painting.  This  was  first  exhibited  in 
1877  and  became  the  property  of  Watts,  who 
particularly  admired  it.  The  year  was  an  event- 
ful one,  because  it  saw  the  opening  of  the  Gros- 
venor  Gallery,  which  was  destined  to  be  the  focus 
of  much  ridicule,  and  for  many  years  the  home  of 
pictures  condemned  bytheauthoritiesat  Burlington 
House,  although  the  Guelphs  often  hung  side  by 
side  with  Ghibellines,  and  the  wise  and  foolish 
virgins  lit  their  lamps  at  the  same  hospitable  shrine. 
The  Preraphaelites  were  settling  down  to  a  languid 
aestheticism  ;  Rossetti  was  never  an  exhibitor  ;  and 
the  Impressionists  were  making  their  first  public 
manifesto  in  London.  The  more  particularly 
esteemed  pictures  from  these  schools  belong  per- 
haps to  an  earlier  date  ;  but,  apart  from  this,  it  is 
informing  to  glance  at  the  catalogue  and  to  realize 
the  artists  whom  Sir  Coutts  Lindsay  on  his  own 
initiative  was  able  to  muster.  The  gallery  con- 
tained no  less  than  seven  Whistlers  (including  the 
Henry  living),  two  masterpieces  by  Watts  {The 
Hon.  Mrs.  Percy  Wytuihani  and  Love  and  Death), 
three  Albert  Moores,  eight  Burne-Joneses  (includ- 
ing Merlin,  The  Days  of  Creation,  and  I'enus's 
Mirror),  four  Holman  Hunts,  and  other  works  by 
artists  now  seen  in  Shepherd's  Bush.  And  this 
was  no  retrospective  exhibition  ;  Venus,  indeed, 
had  risen  from  the  sea  !  It  will,  of  course,  be 
urged  that  we  cannot  replace  the  immortal  dead. 
But  I  believe  that  it  would  have  been  perfectly 
possible  to  have  filled  the  galleries  at  Shepherd's 
Bush  with  an  exhibition  of  liz'ing  artists  quite  as 
remarkable  as  the  Grosvenor  of  1877. 

With  all  respect  to  a  much-advertised  tea,  I 
refuse  to  believe  that  the  leaves  of  thirty  years  ago 
are  more  delicious  than  those  of  to-day.  Only  the 
selection  must  not  be  made  by  a  committee,  or  art 
politics  will  interfere.  W^hy  has  Mr.  MacColl's 
only  water  colour  been  placed  on  a  level  with  the 
visitor's  boots  ?  Why  is  Professor  Tonks  repre- 
sented by  only  one  small  picture,  which  is  skied  ? 
As  an  official,  quite  apart  from  his  unique  position 
as  an  artist  whose  vigorous  influence  has  produced 


such  noble  results,  he  was  entitled  to  more  honour. 
Where  are  the  Strolling  Players  :ind  Rosamund  and 
the  Purple  Jar?  Where  'is  Mr.  W'ilson  Steer's 
Hydrangeas  and  Nidderdale  ?  and  where,  indeed, 
is  Mr.  Steer's  picture  at  all  ?  In  the  catalogue  it  is 
well  named  That's  for  Thoughts.  The  Doll's  House 
of  Mr.  Rothenstein  has  lost  none  of  its  sombre 
power,  and  is  one  of  the  fine  things  possible  to  see. 
Two  characteristic  and  beautiful  pictures,  the 
Delia  of  Mr.  Charles  Shannon  and  Supper  Time  of 
Mr.  Strang,  are  so  ingeniously  placed  as  to  be 
quite  invisible. 

Even  the  Academicians  are  not  too  well  repre- 
sented, with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Sargent,  Sir 
Laurence  Alma  Tadema,  Mr  Alfred  East  and  Sir 
Edward  Poynter.  From  the  President's  point  of 
view,  which  may  not  be  precisely  that  of  the 
advanced  critic  or  artist,  his  portrait  of  Mrs. 
Murray  Guthrie  is  a  singularly  beautiful  picture, 
to  which  the  model  has  contributed  no  small 
share.  The  accomplishment  of  the  painting 
is,  as  they  say,  a  lesson  for  all  of  us.  And  if 
Atalanta's  Race  be  a  trifle  empty  for  its  length, 
we  may  learn  from  it  why  the  Academy  has 
sometimes  lost  time  by  stopping  to  pick  up  the 
apples  discarded  by  those  who  are  making  for  the 
goal.  From  Sir  William  Richmond  should  have 
been  extracted  the  splendid  Bismarck,  or,  if  that 
was  inappropriate  for  an  exhibition  intended  to 
dazzle  the  French,  his  portrait  of  William  Morris 
and  A  Memory  of  Sparta,  the  most  poetical  of  all 
his  paintings.  Neither  the  Borgia  nor  any  others 
shown  by  Kir.  Orchardson  betray  his  power  for 
conjuring  incident  into  the  dimensions  of  paint ; 
they  would  hardly  explain  to  a  practical  French 
visitor  his  deseived  and  recent  triumphs  in  the 
auction  room.  The  wonderful  precision  of  Sir 
Alma  Tadema  is,  however,  admirably  presented, 
and  Mr.  Alfred  East,  who  never  seems  quite  satisfied 
with  his  academic  flag,  by  a  fascinating  landscape, 
The  Shepherd's  Walk  at  Windernicie.  It  is  pleasant 
to  see  the  Derby  Day  of  Mr.  Frith  in  its  present  sur- 
roundings. This  is  essentially  a  picture  for  a  popu- 
lar exhibition,  a  national  treasure  like  the  Crystal 
Palace  or  Osborne.  Among  artistsa  morbid  reaction 
in  its  favour  has  very  properly  begun.  Though  it  can 
never  occupy  the  same  position  in  the  heads  of  the 
English  critics  that  it  does  in  the  hearts  of  Eng- 
lish landladies,  it  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the 
invention  and  skill  of  a  painting  that  is  most 
certainly  a  document  in  the  social,  if  not  the  artistic 
history  of  England.  The  articulation  of  gesture, 
the  variety  of  attitude  in  the  figures,  the  absence 
of  monotony,  make  it  a  real  triumph,  not  exactly 
of  art  but  of  English  painting.  Intrinsically  how 
far  more  artistic  it  is  than  many  so-called  classic 
and  idealistic  pictures  of  the  nineteenth  century — 
those  of  Lcighton  for  example,  or  rather  not  for 
example  but  for  instance!  Mr.  Frith's  directness 
and  materialism  are  ever  so  much  more  valuable 


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The  Franco-British   Exhibition 

than  the  false  subtleties  of  fancy  painting  such  as 
you  get  in  Pinweil  and  Walker,  with  their  Evan- 
gelical aestheticism  and  wobbly   execution.     No 
wonder  some  of  the  younger  men,  such  as  Mr. 
Orpen  and  Mr.  McEvoy,  seem  to  derive  more  from 
Mr.  Frith  than  from  the  theatrical  properties   of 
the  pseudo-romantics,   the   heavy-weights  in    the 
English  School  of  signed  artist  proofs.  Mr. Orpen  is 
seen  to  advantage  in  The  Valuers  ;  though  his  work 
in  Mr.  Lane's  Irish  Gallery  ought  not  to  be  missed, 
where  may  also  be  seen  Mr.  Gerald  Kelly's  strik- 
ing portrait  of  the  dramatic  sensation,  Mr.  Somerset 
Maugham,  and  the  lovely  pictures  of  Mr.  Charles 
Shannon  (Mrs.  Patrick  Campbell  and  the  Hcnncs). 
Of  those  who  in  spite  of   all  temptations  remain 
English,  Mr.  Augustus  John  may  be  congratulated 
on   the  finest  portrait.  Professor  Mackay,  in    the 
whole  of  the  modern  section.     It  is  more  likely 
to  convert  waverers  to  a  belief  in  the  artist's  genius 
than  the  wilful  and  wayward  Seraphita,  who,  how- 
ever, should  have  been  here  because  of  the  interest 
she  would  have  had  for  our  French  critics  with 
their  stagey  ideas  of  the  English  'Miss'  and  the 
ordinary  Alpine  climber  en  route  for  Switzerland. 
Here   at    all    events   is    an   artist    to   whom   we 
may    point    when     foreigners     remind    us    that 
Mr.  Sargent  is  an  American  trained  in  Paris  and 
that   English  painters   cannot    draw.      However 
glad  we  may  be  to  see  Isabella  and  the  Pot  of  Basil 
by  Mr.  Holman  Hunt,Tlte  Strayed  Sheep  or  The  Hire- 
ling SJiepherd  should  have  been  secured  because  of 
their  importance  in  modern  English  landscape,  of 
which   they   were,  in    one   sense,  pioneers.     The 
treatment  of  shadow  in  The  Hireling  Shepherd  was 
without  precedent  in  English  painting.  Though  the 
Scotch  do  themselves  fairly  well,  Mr.  Hornel  has 
been  much  too  modest ;  it  would  have  been  agree- 
able to  see  again  Tlie  Druids  and  Among  the  Wild 
Hyacinths  shown  in  that  last  sensational  death-bed 
confession  of  the  Grosvenor  Gallery.     The  cor- 
poration  of     Liverpool    contributes   the   famous 
Idyll  of  Mr.  Greifenhagen  ;    and  another  picture 
which  ought   never   to   have   been  hung   in    the 
limited  space  at  the  disposal  of  the  committee ; 
it  is  a  monstrous  work  in  both  senses  of  the  word. 
The   section   devoted   to   modern    w-atercolour 
can  only   be   described   as   unrepresentative,  and 
that  to  black-and-white  as  ingeniously  misrepre- 
sentative.      There  are,  however,  good  things  by 
Mr.  Pennell,  Mr.  Muirhead   Bone,  Miss  Airy  and 
two  atrociously  framed  Aubrey  Beardsleys. 

If  English  artists  are  neglected  on  the  continent 
or  at  home,  they  always  take  it  out  of  sculpture,  on 
the  principle  of  the  child  who,  itself  in  disgrace, 
punishes  its  doll.  The  images  at  Shepherd's  Bush 
are  all  arran'ged  on  the  lines  of  Madame  Tussaud. 
French  and  American  visitors  will,  of  course, 
admire  Mr.  Harvard  Thomas's  Tencrnm  Lycidan 
quo  calet  juvcntus  nunc  omnis,  and  about  whom 
the  Academy  was  tepid.     The  strange,  archaistic 


beauty  of  this  work  cannot  be  seen  to  advantage 
in  its  present  position,  but  its  stylistic  qualities 
irresistibly  recall  the  great  pre-Pheidian  masters— 
the  body  and  shoulders  the  primitive  '  Strangford' 
or  '  Omphalos  '  Apollos.  There  are  several  delight- 
ful statues  by  Mr.  Gotto,  whose  Sliuger,  however, 
seems  to  have  borrowed  the  feet  of  a  Rodin  ; 
Tigers,  by  Mr.  Swan  ;  and  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Fagan 
there  is  a  pretty  little  head  (No.  1,274),  easy  to  find 
because  it  is  near  a  door.  With  few  exceptions, 
'degli  altri  fia  laudabile  il  tacerci '  in  the  words  of 
the  most  sculpturesque  of  poets. 

Robert  Ross. 

NOTES  ON   THE   APPLIED   ARTS 

Among  the  significant  events  which  remain  in  the 
popular  mind  as  landmarks,  the  Great  Exhibition  of 
1 85 1  has  secured  a  fame  comparable  to  that  of  the 
Battle  of  Waterloo  ;  nor  is  that  fame  undeserved. 
The  exhibition  was  a  real  landmark,  and  that  in 
more  worlds  than  one.  In  the  world  of  politics 
it  was  the  culminating  point  of  the  era  of  opti- 
mism which  grew  up  with  the  peace  of  Europe  after 
the  fall  of  the  first  Napoleon,  which  was  shaken  by 
three  great  Continental  wars,  and  which  only  the 
gloomy  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  could 
effectually  dissipate.  In  the  world  of  art  the 
exhibition  was  no  less  memorable.  It  marked 
the  climax  of  a  particular  phase  of  ostentatious 
vulgarity,  of  a  pride  in  mere  elaborate  mechan- 
isrn  that  brought  about  the  great  reaction  which 
in  painting  we  associate  with  the  Preraphaelites,  in 
criticism  with  Ruskin,  and  in  the  field  of  the 
applied  arts  with  William  Morris. 

The  development  of  the  applied  arts  in  France 
and  England  has,  however,  been  conducted  on 
separate  and  divergent  lines,  as  an  inspection  of 
the  '  Palaces  '  of  English  and  French  Applied  and 
Decorative  Arts  at  the  Franco-British  Exhibition 
will  prove.  It  may  be  said  at  once  that  the  display 
is  neither  as  fine  nor  as  striking  as  might  have 
been  expected,  and  that  it  is  almost  wholly 
commercial  in  character,  while  the  lateness  of  the 
date  at  which  the  French  sections  were  ready  for 
examination  put  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
comparison.  Several  of  the  exhibitors,  especially 
among  the  goldsmiths  and  silversmiths,  have  made 
the  mistake  of  trying  to  show  too  much,  and 
loading  their  stalls  and  windows  with  a  mass  of 
unremarkable  objects,  where  one  or  two  interesting 
pieces  would  both  have  attracted  more  attention 
and  testified  more  eloquently  to  the  quality  of  the 
work  done  by  the  firms  in  question.  Amid  much 
that  is  uninteresting  and  some  things  that  are 
unworthy  of  a  place  in  anything  but  an  ordinary 
shop  window,  it  is  possible,  however,  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  condition  of  the  applied  arts  in 
the  two  countries,  and  to  trace  the  different 
influences  which  account  for  the  divergence. 
International  exhibitions  of   any  kind  do  not, 


200 


<;^« 


The  Franco-British  Exhibition 


perhaps,  offer  a  perfectly  fair  ground  of  com- 
parison between  nation  and  nation.  They  have 
always  to  be  organized  on  a  more  or  less  commercial 
basis,  and  it  is  inevitable,  therefore,  that  even  in 
exhibits  of  the  decorative  arts  the  influence  of  the 
man  of  business  should  often — perhaps  in  the 
majority  of  cases — somewhat  overshadow  the 
results  produced  by  the  artist  and  the  craftsman. 
In  this  respect  neither  the  French  nor  the  British 
section  can  claim  a  decisive  superiority.  The 
older  English  firms,  it  is  true,  make  no  very 
reprehensible  concessions  to  the  tourist  public,  and 
the  exhibits  of  Messrs.  Elkington,  Messrs.  Garrard, 
Messrs.  Mappin  and  Webb,  and  the  Goldsmiths 
and  Silversmiths  Company  are  as  free  from  the 
appearance  of  mere  window  display  as  are  the 
exliibits  of  two  or  three  of  their  important  French 
competitors  such  as  MM.  Christofle  or  Susse. 

A  comparison  of  the  two  sections  reveals  one 
radical  difference  between  the  products  of  the 
two  countries.  The  best  English  work  is  based 
entirely  upon  English  designs  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  in  some  instances 
this  reliance  upon  past  designs  goes  so  far  that 
fine  pieces  of  old  plate  are  exhibited  side  by  side 
with  good  modern  facsimiles.  Where  our  plate 
is  not  based  upon  these  old  models  (as  in  the  case 
of  certain  exhibits  of  sporting  trophies  and  the 
like)  it  follows  the  base  examples  of  the  Victorian 
epoch,  and,  though  frequently  elaborate  in 
execution,  it  is  at  once  put  out  of  court  by  its 
meretricious  pomposity.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
pieces,  however,  are  reproductions  of  older  models, 
and,  since  most  of  those  models  were  in  one  way 
or  another  excellent  of  their  kind,  the  general 
effect  is  good,  even  if  it  be  somewhat  lacking  in 
originality.  It  was  perhaps  somewhat  unfortunate 
for  England  that  two  or  three  of  the  independent 
craftsmen,  whose  work  we  have  from  time  to  time 
admired  at  the  New  Gallery  and  elsewhere,  could 
not  have  been  given  a  prominent  place.  Such 
work  as  that  of  Mr.  Cooper,  for  example,  would 
have  strengthened  the  English  section  considerably, 
even  if  it  had  made  its  appearance  under  the  wing  of 
one  of  the  great  manufacturing  firms,  who  naturally 
command  the  most  prominent  positions. 

We  miss,  in  fact,  that  element  of  independent 
craftsmanship  which  the  Arts  and  Crafts  Society 
introduced  and  has  so  creditably  maintained,  and 
are  driven  to  recognize  that  a  large  majority  of 
our  designers  are  still  anonymous  workers  in  the 
employ  of  great  commercial  houses.  It  is  thus  as 
commercial  workers  that  they  have  to  be  noticed 
in  any  description  of  the  show  at  Shepherd's  Bush. 
Yet  if  their  woik  were  no  more  th.ui  mechanical 
manufacture  it  would  not  deserve  mention,  and  the 
mere  fact  that  it  is  mentioned,  even  under  a  trade 
description,  should  be  taken  to  imply  that  in  such 
cases  the  tradesman  has  not  quite  overwhelmed 
the  artist. 


When  we  turn  to  the  French  section  we  find  a 
somewhat  different  state  of  affairs.  Here  two 
tendencies  seem  to  be  at  work.  First  we  have  to 
face  an  old,  and  possibly  moribund,  ideal  of  minute, 
skilful  finish  applied  to  objects  of  no  artistic 
importance  (such  as  handles  for  ladies'  parasols 
and  small  trinkets),  yet  applied  to  them  with  a 
certain  conscientious  perfection  that  is  not  without 
merit  of  a  kind.  In  the  combination  of  pretty 
enamels  with  highly  wrought  goldsmiths'  work 
the  French  craftsnieii  show" undeniable  capacity. 
The  designs  may  not  be  of  a  very  high  order,  and 
the  work  may  be  no  more  than  rather  expensive 
shopwork,  but  still,  in  its  way,  it  has  a  daintiness 
and  appropriateness  to  feminine  uses  that  ought 
not  to  be  underestimated.  It  is  distinctly  ingenious 
and  pretty,  and  from  the  aesthetic  point  of  view  is 
perhaps  no  less  meritorious  than  that  rigid  absten- 
tion from  the  ornate  which,  combined  with  perfect 
workmanship,  is  its  Bond  Street  equivalent. 

This,  however,  appears  to  be  a  moribund  craft,  if 
we  may  judge  from  its  present  representation. 
The  more  elaborate  French  exhibits,  almost  without 
exception,  display  a  very  different  tendency.  '  L'art 
nouveau '  is  a  phrase  vulgarized  by  advertisement, 
discussion  and  abuse.  It  was  wholly  English  in 
its  origin.  William  Morris  was  its  grandfather,  the 
Arts  and  Crafts  Society  its  parent,  'The  Studio'  its 
foster-mother.  In  Great  Britain  its  influence  was 
on  the  whole  healthy  and  stimulating,  but  when  it 
once  started  its  career  on  the  continent  that  career 
speedily  became  one  of  riot.  Where  it  came  upon 
new  civilizations  the  results,  as  might  be  expected, 
were  disastrous,  and,  like  Frankenstein's  monster, 
it  now  threatens  to  overwhelm  central  Europe 
with  its  monstrous  progeny. 

In  France,  however,  it  met  with  a  stable  civiliza- 
tion and  an  organized  system  of  taste  just  on  the 
point  of  revoltmg  from  the  crude  display  of  the 
Third  Empire  inlfavour  of  the  barocco  elegance  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  That  reaction  was  so 
strong  that  the  Arts  and  Crafts  movement  could 
not  overwhelm  it.  It  was  driven  to  make  terms  of 
peace,  and  the  French  section  of  the  Exhibition 
is  everywhere  influenced  by  the  resulting  com- 
promise. The  sweeping  curves  that  in  Eastern 
Europe  either  run  wild  riot  or  are  contrasted  with 
solid  masses  of  Egyptian  severity,  in  France  take 
on  something  of  the  character  of  an  eighteenth- 
century  festoon,  and  burst  everywhere  into  artificial 
blossom.  The  result  is  ornate  and  sometimes 
extravagant ;  it  is  rarely  or  never  wholly  satisfying. 
The  easy  sweep  of  the  curvature,  the  skilful  work- 
manship  of  the  elaborate  leafage,  the  carefully 
'  matted  '  surfaces  have  a  mechanical  effect.  i"'-'y 
would  make  admirable  decoration  for  the  dinner 
table  of  an  expensive  hotel,  but  in  a  private  house 
they  would  be  tiresome. 

If  we  compare  them  with  fine  examples  of  b  rencU 
eighteenth-century  work  wc  shall  see  m  a  moment 

203 


The   Franco-British   Exhibition 


where  the  weakness  lies.  That  admirable  school 
of  craftsmanship  was  permeated  from  first  to  last 
by  a  very  real  feeling  for  design  and  proportion.  A 
mount  by  Caflieri,  for  example,  is  not  a  mere 
exuberant  flourish,  but  a  deliberate  construction 
carefully  calculated  to  serve  the  particular  end  in 
view.  In  the  modern  work  we  no  longer  see  the 
same  careful  foresight  to  preserve  a  just  relation 
between  plain  and  decorated  surfaces,  between 
large  curves  and  small,  between  the  rigid  lines 
which  make  for  architectural  stability  and  the 
flowing  lines  which  give  energy  and  life.  Every- 
thing has  been  sacrificed  either  to  exuberant  ease 
or  to  an  insensitive  simplicity  that  results  both 
in  stiffness  and  emptiness. 

Perhaps  the  most  instructive  of  all  the  exhibits 
in  this  section  is  that  contributed  liy  the  Adminis- 
tration des  Monnaieset  Medailles.  In  numismatics 
the  French,  for  a  century  or  more,  have  been 
immeasurably  our  superiors.  As  a  race  they  have 
a  certain  natural  aptitude  for  sculpture  which  we 
do  not  possess.  In  France  an  Alfred  Stevens 
would  be  no  solitary  phenomenon,  but  would 
appear  only  as  the  natural  culmination  of  a  wide- 
spread national  talent.  The  early  French  medals 
are  of  surpassing  interest,  whether  our  inclination 
lead  us  to  linger  over  the  terrible  indictment  of 
Charles  X,  over  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  as  wife  of 
the  Dauphin,  over  Louis  XIV  aping  Alexander  the 
Great,  or  over  the  wise  Colbert.  Later,  after  a 
period  of  florid  decadence,  excellent  work  is  done 
under  the  influence  of  classical  models,  and 
Euainetos  is  seen  to  be  the  true  originator  of  one 
of  the  most  successful  of  modern  coin  designs,  as 
well  as  of  what  is  perhaps  the  most  perfect 
Hellenic  example. 

Once  more,  however,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
decorative  metal  work,  '  L'art  nouveau '  steps  in  to 
modify  and  improve  with  the  most  deplorable 
results.  The  old  sense  of  refined  proportion  at 
once  vanishes  under  the  impulse  of  the  new 
movement,  and  in  no  art  is  refined  proportion  so 
vital  and  essential  as  in  that  of  the  numismatist. 
The  circular  medallic  form  is  discarded  for 
honorary  purposes  in  favour  of  a  rectangular 
plaque,  on  which  the  design  loses  all  the  signifi- 
cance it  might  have  secured  by  subtle  spacing, 
while  to  make  matters  worse  the  actual  surface  of 
the  metal,  to  which  the  medallist  looks  for  his 
most  delicate  gradations,  his  rarest  hints  and 
suggestions  of  modelling  or  character,  is  obscured 
by  a  uniform  artificial  dulling  or  roughening,  which 
makes  the  noblest  material  look  like  cheap  alloy 
or  coarse  electrotype.  The  art  that  could  with- 
stand such  ubiquitous  assaults  would  indeed  be  a 
great  art ;  and  nothing  proves  the  essential  vitality 
of  French  sculpture  more  conclusively  than  the 
fact  that  a  certain  remnant  of  grace  and  style 
survives  even  in  these  degraded  plaquettes.  Nor 
is  it  for  us  to  throw  stones.     Our  own  numismatic 

204 


art  hab  sunk  into  such  a  slough  of  hopeless  official 
and  commercial  conventionality  that  even  these 
misguided  French  examples  seem  by  comparison 
to  have  both  style  and  spirit. 

Had  the  sections  devoted  to  furniture  and  the 
allied  industries  in  France  been  in  a  more  forward 
state  of  preparation,  it  would  have  been  easier  to 
form  a  fair  estimate  of  their  importance.  When 
these  notes  were  made  it  was  difficult  to  see  any 
marked  indication  of  originality,  either  in  design 
or  manufacture,  the  principal  firms  being  appar- 
ently content  with  tolerably  skilful  reproductions 
of  eighteenth-century  patterns.  Nor  among  the 
minor  English  exhibits  was  there  much  that 
seemed  to  call  for  special  notice,  while  the  large 
English  manufacturers  of  furniture  do  not  seem 
to  have  patronized  the  Palaces  of  the  Applied  Arts. 

The  principal  interest  of  the  English  furniture 
section  was  thus  concentrated  upon  the  objects 
shown  by  the  chief  dealers  in  antique  furniture, 
and  upon  the  work  of  a  few  firms  of  decorators. 
The  foremost  place  was  undoubtedly  taken  by  a 
series  of  three  rooms,  representing  the  styles  of 
William  and  Mary,  of  George  I  and  George  III. 
These  rooms  were  the  joint  product  of  three 
firms,  Messrs.  Cardinal  and  Harford  supplying  the 
carpets,  and  Messrs.  Mallett  the  furniture,  while 
the  decoration  in  each  case  was  carried  out  by 
Messrs.  White  Allom.  All  did  their  work  well, 
but  a  word  of  special  praise  is  due  to  the  excellent 
taste  which  governed  the  decorative  schemes. 
The  peculiar  serenity  of  the  old  panelling  was 
most  happily  caught,  its  restful  quality  being 
made  doubly  pleasant  from  the  contrast  it 
provided  to  the  more  florid  style  of  eighteenth- 
century  France.  The  carpet  in  the  Chippendale 
room  was  also  attractive. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  gallery  Messrs. 
Hampton  showed  a  panelled  room  copied  to  scale 
from  one  at  Hatfield.  It  did  not,  however, 
show  quite  to  the  same  advantage  as  the  rooms 
previously  mentioned  ;  possibly  because  a  setting 
of  solid  oak  is  really  best  suited  to  the  country, 
to  rooms  often  flooded  with  sunlight,  and  to  an 
outlook  upon  green  lawns  and  bright  gardens,  or, 
in  the  evening,  to  the  cheerful  glow  of  a  log  fire 
upon  an  open  hearth.  In  the  glare  and  bustle  of 
an  exhibition  its  homeliness  is  out  of  place.  If 
the  panels  are  on  a  modest  scale  they  tend  to  look 
forlorn,  if  on  a  large  scale  they  may  seem  heavy 
and  pompous.  The  loan  collection  of  furniture 
arranged  close  by  contains  some  notable  pieces, 
among  them  one  of  the  sumptuous  chairs  from 
Knole,  and  an  exceedingly  curious  example  of 
Chippendale's  carving  in  the  Chinese  manner  ; 
but  its  usefulness  and  interest  would  be  greatly 
increased  if  the  specimens  had  been  properly 
described  and  catalogued.' 

^Tlie  so-called  Official  Guide  sold  in  the  exhibition  is  even 
more  comically  inadequate  in  its  treatment  of  the  sections  o£ 


The  Franco-British  Exhibition 


The  centre  of  the  gallery,  like  the  sides,  is  largely 
occupied  with  loans  ;  the  collection  of  Old  English 
glass  and  Worcester  china  being  specially  good, 
and  contrasting  strongly  with  the  modern  products 
of  the  same  kind  shown  elsewhere.  A  curious  set 
of  parcel  gilt  plates,  engraved  after  Aldegrever's 
prints  representing  The  Labours  of  Hercules,  also 
deserves  notice.  The  most  prominent  object  in 
this  section,  however,  was  the  large  satinwood 
cabinet  made  for  Charles  IV  of  Spain,  lent  by 
Mr.  R.  W.  Partridge.  Designed  by  Sir  William 
Chambers,  painted  by  Hamilton,  and  made  in 
1793  by  Seddon,  Sons,  and  Shackleton,  it  represents 
an  effort,  unusual  if  not  unique,  in  English  work, 
though  comparatively  common  among  the  French 
i'heiiistes,  to  raise  the  art  of  furniture-making  into 
the  regions  of  architecture.  Had  it  been  their 
national  intention  to  rival  the  French  cabinet- 
makers in  their  own  field,  the  English  could  have 
chosen  no  greater  designer  than  Sir  William 
Chambers,  and  something  of  the  massive  grandeur 
of  the  fafade  of  Somerset  House  is  evident  in  his 
design.  William  Hamilton,  too,  was  admirably 
fitted  to  second  Chambers,  and  his  panels  of  the 
Four  Seasons,  of  Fire  and  Water,  of  Night  and 
Morning,  of  Juno  and  of  Ceres,  are  as  fortunate 
specimens  of  decorative  work  as  eighteenth- 
century  England  could  show.  Like  some  of  its 
French  rivals,  the  piece  combines  the  functions 
of  a  bureau,  a  jewel-case  and  a  dressing-table. 
The  workmanship  without  and  within  is  of  extra- 
ordinary nicety  and  elaboration.  So  elaborate 
indeed  is  the  cabinet  that  it  is  only  on  detailed 
examination  that  its  merits  can  be  properly  judged, 
and  at  Shepherd's  Bush  it  suffers  for  want  of  an 
appropriate  background.  A  French  piece  of  the 
same  importance  would  suffer  less,  for  experience 
had  taught  the  French  designers  the  advantage  of 
making  cabinets  compact  like  a  decorated  chest. 
Chambers,  making  a  single  excursion  into  an 
unaccustomed  field,  relied  upon  his  architectural 
experience  and,  giving  free  play  to  his  fancy, 
designed  not  so  much  a  piece  of  furniture  for  a 
mansion  or  a  palace  as  a  wonderful  building  of 
carved  and  painted  wood,  unrelated  to  any  scheme 
of  interior  decoration. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  decorative  arts  in  England 
are  represented  chiefly  by  wise  reliance  upon  past 
models,  but  one  or  two  specimen  rooms  indicate 
other  tendencies  that  are  at  work  side  by  side  with 
this  skilful  antiquarianism.     The  famous  firm  of 

Applied  and  Decorative  Art  than  sucti  publications  are  wont  to 
be.  In  this  respect,  indeed,  the  whole  exhibiiion  compares 
most  unfavourably  with  its  primitive  fore  runners  in  Soutli 
Kensington.  There  the  official  catalogues  at  least  gave  a  more 
or  less  detailed  synopsis  of  the  principal  objects  on  view,  instead 
of  devoting  themselves  largely  to  what  may  he  termed  the  swing 
and  roundabout  departments  of  the  fair. 


Morris  &  Co.,  for  example,  contribute  some 
elaborate  specimens  of  their  craftsmanship,  which 
serve  alike  to  illustrate  the  development  of  the  Arts 
and  Crafts  movement  in  England  and  to  form  a 
link  with  the  kindred  work  tliat  is  being  dime  on 
the  continent.  The  exhibit  of  Messrs.  Godfrey 
Giles  suggests  a  possibility  of  development  in 
another  direction.  Here  the  scheme  of  decoration 
seems  to  be  controlled  by  very  practical  considera- 
tions, and  is  carried  out  with  attractive  wallpapers 
that  can  be  washed,  and  cushions  stuffed  with 
springs  instead  of  horsehair ;  in  fact  it  almost 
seems  as  if  the  increasing  strictness  of  our  views 
upon  sanitation  and  personal  cleanliness  might 
react  in  time  upon  the  decorative  arts  and  supply 
them  with  a  fresh  stimulus,  at  least  so  far  as 
dwellings  in  crowded  cities  are  concerned.  The 
word  '  sanitation '  does  not  naturally  suggest  things 
of  beauty,  and  customs  die  hard,  but  if  it  were 
possible  to  speculate  with  any  certainty  on  the 
tendencies  of  the  future,  it  would  not  be  unreason- 
able to  recognize  the  probability  that  the  next 
development  of  decorative  art  for  town  dwellings 
will  take  a  channel  more  consonant  with  the  laws  of 
healthy  life  than  several  past  fashions  have  followed. 
Yet  the  exhibition  as  a  whole  can  only  be 
described  as  disappointing  so  far  as  the  decorative 
arts  are  concerned.  It  is  not  that  things  rare, 
curious  and  beautiful  are  lacking,  but  rather  that 
the  good  things  appear  to  have  come  there  by 
chance,  and  not  as  the  outcome  of  any  reasonable 
organized  plan.  Valuable  objects  seem  to  have 
been  plumped  down  haphazard  in  the  middle  of  a 
cheap  bazaar  ;  sections  to  be  classified  without 
principle,  and  arranged  without  method.  So  far 
as  it  was  possible  to  judge  in  the  midst  of  this 
confusion,  certain  important  arts,  such  as  those 
connected  with  textiles,  were  not  represented  at  all 
in  any  serious  sense  of  the  word  ;  for  such  exhibits 
as  there  were  seemed  aimed  only  to  catch  the 
attention  of  the  people  who  crowd  to  'sales'  in 
Oxford  Street.  Possibly  the  organizers  of  these 
shows  know  their  public  ;  but  we  cannot  help 
thinking  that  if  they  had  tried  to  make  the  arts 
section  into  an  organized  and  representative  whole, 
instead  of  leaving  it  in  the  condition  of  a  slipshod 
emporium,  they  would  have  served  their  public 
just  as  well  and  the  exhibiting  firms  much  better. 
A  combined  show  of  the  industrial  arts  of  France 
and  England  would  have  been  an  immensely  inte- 
resting and  attractive  thing.  As  it  is,  this  section 
is  saved  from  being  a  fiasco  by  the  enterprise  of 
the  few  firms,  who  have  taken  matters  more  or  less 
seriously.  We  do  not  perhaps  realize  how  high  is 
the  average  of  their  taste,  till  we  light  upon  a 
certain  sideboard  of  specimen  woods  in  the  New 
Zealand  Palace. 


201 


A  RECENT  ADDITION  TO  THE  NATIONAL  PORTRAIT 

GALLERY 
cA.  BY  LIONEL  CUST  r*^ 


VALUABLE  additiun  to  the 

National    Portrait   Gallery  has 

recently  been  niade  by  the  pur- 

I  chrise  of  a  small  panel  portrait 

iof  the  Lady  Margaret  Beaufort, 

I  Countess    of    Richmond    and 

Derbv,   the    mother   of    King 

^______^_ .Henry  VII.     The  Lady  Mar- 

g'aret,  as  she  was  usually  styled,  was  the  only  child 
and  heiress  of  John  Beaufort,  Duke  of  Somerset, 
and  grandchild  of  John  Beaufort,  first  Duke  of 
Somerset,  the  eldest  of  the  three  legitimated  sons 
of  John  of  Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  the  fourth 
son  of  King  Edward  III.  The  extinction  of  the 
House  of  Lancaster  in  the  male  line  at  the  death 
of  King  Henry  VI  left  the  Lady  Margaret  with  a 
claim  to  the  crown  of  England.  She  was  born  in 
1441,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  only  was  married 
to  King  Henry  Vl's  half-brother,  Edmund  Tudor, 
Earl  of  Richmond,  who  died  in  the  following 
year,  leaving  her  with  an  infant  son — Henry,  Earl 
of  Richmond,  afterwards  King  Henry  VII.  Three 
years  later  the  Lady  Margaret  was  re-married  to  Sir 
Henry  Stafford,  who  died  in  1472,  in  which  year 
she  was  married  for  the  third  time  to  Thomas 
Stanley,  second  Earl  of  Derby,  who  was  greatly 
instrumental  in  securing  the  crown  for  his  step-son, 
Henry  VII.  In  later  years  the  Lady  Margaret, 
who  was  devoted  to  works  of  piety  and  charity, 
took  religious  vows,  and  under  the  influence  of 
Bishop  Fisher  she  founded  the  colleges  of  St.  John's 
College  and  Christ's  College  at  Cambridge,  and 
professorships   of    divinity   at   both   Oxford   and 


Cambridge.     She  survived  her  son 


King 


Henry 


VII,  but  died  only  a  few  months  after  the  acces- 
sion of  her  grandson.  King  Henry  VIII,  in  1509, 
when,  as  Fisher  declared,  'all  England  for  her 
death  had  cause  of  weeping.' 

The  portraits  hitherto  known  of  the  Lady 
Margaret  appear  to  be  in  every  case  memorial 
portraits,  painted  for  her  numerous  charitable  or 
learned  foundations,  and  representing  her  in  a 
religious  habit,  with  an  austere  and  somewhat 
severe  expression.  The  portrait  recently  acquired 
for  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  shows  the 
Lady  Margaret  in  a  more  youthful  and  more  pleas- 
ing aspect.  She  is  seen  to  below  the  waist,  stand- 
ing or  kneeling,  in  a  conventional  attitude  of 
prayer.  She  wears  a  tight-fitting  chocolate-brown 
robe,  gathered  in  small  pleats  across  the  bosom  and 
cut  open  at  the  neck  withagrey  edging,  above  which 
is  a  black  wimple  entirely  covering  the  neck  and 
reaching  up  to  but  not  extending  over  the  chin. 
The  dress  has  grey  fur  cuffs  at  the  wrists.  Over  the 
head  she  wears  two  (or  possibly  three)  hoods.  The 
outer  hood  is  of  light  brown  brocade  patterned 
silk,  edged  with  a  broad  white  border  on  which  is 

206 


a  bold  floriated  pattern,  and  studded  with  rubies  and 
pale  blue  sapphires  along  the  outer  edge.  The  inner 
hood,  or  hoods,  consists  of  a  light  white  patterned 
hood,  surmounting,  or  bordered  by,  a  fine  white 
cambric  hood  or  veil,  which  falls  over  the  face,  and 
is  transparent  enough  to  enable  the  portion  of  the 
eye  and  eyelid  over  which  the  veil  falls  to  be  seen 
through  the  tissue  of  the  cambric.  The  delicate, 
ascetic  but  still  youthful  features  have  an  earnest 
look,  the  eyes  being  pale  grey,  and  the  well-shaped 
lips  slightly  tinted  with  pale  red.  The  outer  hood 
is  lined  with  a  dark  brown  material  covered  with 
a  criss-cross  pattern,  which  can  be  seen  in  the 
shadow  above  the  shoulder.  Her  hands  are  clasped 
in  prayer,  and  she  wears  rings  on  the  first,  third 
and  fourth  fingers.  The  knuckles  and  wrinkles  of 
the  skin  on  the  finger  are  carefully  drawn  in  a 
somewhat  mechanical  manner,  and  the  shape  of 
the  finger  nails  is  carefully  outlined.  The  back- 
ground is  dark  olive-green  with  a  diaper  pattern 
showing  the  portcullis,  the  badge  of  the  Beaufort 
family.  In  the  upper  left-hand  corner  are  the 
armorial  bearings  of  France  and  England  within 
a  borduregobonny,the  armsof  the  Beaufort  family, 
in  a  lozenge-shaped  shield  denoting  a  woman  and 
an  heiress.  Round  the  lozenge  has  been  added  at 
an  early  but  later  date  a  dark  escutcheon  made  out 
to  carry  the  inscription,  MARGARETA  MATER 
HENR7  COM'^  RICHMONDL^  &  DERBI^. 
The  painting,  which  is  in  excellent  preservation,  is 
painted  on  an  oaken  panel,  measuring  about 
17  by  12^  inches.  It  may  have  been  the  wing  of  a 
diptych,  the  dexter  wing  of  which  may  have  been 
destroyed  at  the  Reformation. 

A  special  interest  attaches  itself  to  this  portrait 
in  that  it  represents  a  lady  of  English  birth  painted 
some  time  before  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  style  of  painting  separates  it  from  the  purely 
Flemish  school,  and  leads  one  to  think  that  the 
portrait  is  really  of  English  origin.  There  is  a 
directness,  a  matter-of-fact  look,  and  a  sobriety 
about  the  portrait  which  suggest  an  English,  as 
opposed  to  a  Flemish,  or  even  a  French  origin. 
There  is  no  trace,  again,  of  the  hand  of  a  miniature 
painter,  accustomed  to  paint  in  little — a  branch  of 
the  arts  which  was  up  to  a  certain  date  brought 
to  particular  excellence  by  artists  of  purely  Eng- 
lish origin.  Considering  the  quiet,  secluded  life 
which  the  Lady  Margaret  lived,  as  far  removed  as 
possible  from  the  turmoil  of  politics  and  warfare, 
her  mind  set  upon  religion,  charity,  learning,  and 
the  welfare  of  her  poorer  brethren,  it  would  not  be 
surprising  to  find  her  also  as  the  patron  of  artists, 
and  the  rival  therein  of  her  contemporary,  another 
Margaret,  the  famous  regent  of  the  Netherlands. 

The  picture  was  formerly  in  the  collection  of 
Viscount  Powerscourt,  and  was  purchased  in  1 883 


MARGARET    BEAVFORT,   COUNTESS    OP    RICHMOND   AND    DERIiY 
RECENTLY  ACQUIRED   BY  THE    NATIONAL   PORTRAIT   GALLERY 


^-n 


A  Recent  Addition  to  the  National  Portrait  Gallery 


by  Messrs.  H.  Graves  and  Co.,  who  resold  it 
immediately.  It  was  purchased  for  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery  at  Christie's  on  January,  27th. 1908, 


at  a  sale  of  pictures  belonging  to  the  late  Mr. 
Edward  J.  Stanley,  of  ^Quantock  Lodge,  Bridg- 
water. 


THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  RAVINE  BY  GERICAULT 

^Jm  BY  C.  J.   HOLMES  c9^ 


LTHOUGH  in  England  of 
recent  years  we  have  become 
familiar  with  the  productions 
of  what  is  commonly  called 
I  the  Romantic  movement  on 
'  the  continent,  as  a  nation  we 
possess  hardly  any  pictorial 
.documents  that  bear  upon  its 
To  trace  the  process  of  transition  from 
the  art  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  the  art  of  the 
nineteenth  century  on  the  continent,  we  must  still 
turn  to  the  Louvre.  At  the  moment,  however,  there 
is  a  picture  on  exhibition  in  London  which  illus- 
trates so  aptly  the  great  period  of  transition  between 
the  past  and  the  present  that  it  calls  for  some 
notice  quite  apart  from  its  intrinsic  excellence.  The 
Passage  of  the  Ravine  by  Gericault,  which  was 
on  view  in  Messrs  Obach's  galleries  last  month 
and  is  reproduced  here  by  their  permission,  may 
indeed  be  regarded  as  a  typical  example  of  the 
spirit  in  which  arose  the  revolution  against  the 
classical  conventions  of  the  eighteenth  century 
and  all  the  limitations  of  artistic  enterprise  which 
those  conventions  implied. 

Not  that  Gericault  can  be  regarded  as  the 
first  revolutionary.  From  time  to  time  writers  on  the 
great  masters  of  the  eighteenth  century  have  dis- 
covered in  one  or  the  other  of  them  the  germ  of  the 
movement  which  was  to  be  the  predominating  fea- 
ture of  the  nineteenth  century.  Yet  even  Chardin 
— of  all  masters  perhaps  the  one  whose  detachment 
from  his  age  was  most  complete,  whose  freedom 
from  the  grandiose  or  luxurious  ideals  of  con- 
temporary patronage  was  most  conspicuous — even 
Chardin  was  not  a  revolutionary.  He  was  but  a 
gifted  successor  of  a  tradition,  less  highly  honoured 
perhaps,  but  in  its  degree  no  less  firmly  established 
than  the  traditions  on  which  the  other  painters 
of  his  age  composed  their  flamboyant  heroics, 
posed  their  self-conscious  portraits,  or  built  up 
their  enchanting  paste-board  Arcadias. 

The  art  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  also 
to  be  heroic,  but  its  heroics  were  the  heroics  of  a 
nation  still  living  and  fighting  the  world  for  its 
existence,  not  the  heroics  of  nations  that  had  fought 
for  existence  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  true 
beginning  of  the  change  was  made  by  Napoleon, 
when  he  employed  Gros,  the  pupil  of  David,  to 
celebrate  his  military  triumphs.  In  Gros's  return, 
after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  to  the  rigid  classicism 
of  his  master,  and  in  the  tragedy  which  ended 
his  career,  we  seem  to  have  evidence  that  Gros 


was  a  revolutionary  malgre  liii.  With  all  his 
gifts — and  it  is  folly  not  to  recognize  that  they 
were  considerable — he  was  from  first  to  last  a 
follower  rather  than  a  leader.  Before  and  after 
his  connexion  with  Bonaparte  he  was  a  blind 
slave  of  David  :  in  the  interval  he  was  the  blind 
slave  of  the  Emperor. 

Much  as  Napoleon  may  have  desired  to  per- 
petuate his  personal  fame  through  the  grandiose 
formulae  by  which  the  triumphs  of  Alexander  or 
the  Horatii  had  been  introduced  to  the  national 
imagination,  his  own  dramatic  sense  constantly 
inclined  him  to  make  a  warmer  and  more  direct 
appeal  to  his  people.  This  human,  emotional 
element  underlies  all  the  dignified  phrasing  of  his 
pulilic  pronouncements,  and  is  the  inspiration  of 
the  great  series  of  pictures  which  Gros  executed 
for  him.  In  them  the  stiffness  of  the  old  formulae 
of  design  is  exchanged  for  life,  freedom  and  move- 
ment ;  the  colour  is  made  warm  and  glowing  ; 
while  the  figures  themselves  are  represented  in  the 
dresses  they  might  actually  be  supposed  to  have 
worn,  instead  of  in  the  togas  and  buskins  of  anti- 
quity. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  appeal  to  the  public 
was  immediate  and  forcible,  or  that,  when  with  the 
return  of  the  Bourbons  Gros  reverted  to  the 
manner  of  David,  the  reversion  was  regarded  by 
independent  minds  as  a  ridiculous  anachronism. 
He  had  opened  the  floodgates  of  freedom  and 
was  overwhelmed  by  the  torrent  that  poured 
through. 

Between  Delacroix,  the  chief  of  this  band  of 
liberators,  and  Gros,  the  unfortunate  pioneer  of 
freedom,  the  connecting  link  is  Gericault.  By 
the  time  he  was  twenty-one  Gericault  had  proved 
himself  not  only  the  foremost  of  Gros's  followers 
in  celebrating  the  military  spirit  of  the  Napoleonic 
epoch,  but  one  who  brought  to  the  work  a  fresh 
and  vigorous  dramatic  element,  of  which  the  great 
Radean  de  la  Medme,  exhibited  in  1819,  is  the 
most  important  example.  In  connexion  with  his 
influence  on  his  successors  it  must  be  admitted 
that  his  dramatic  feeling  found  vent  in  strong  con- 
trasts of  light  and  shade  rather  than  through  colour 
— and  colour  was  the  real  casus  belli  of  his  age. 
Gericault,  in  fact,  used  colour  perhaps  more  freely 
in  his  first  works  under  the  influence  of  Gros  than 
in  those  painted  after  the  year  1815,  when  a  visit 
to  Italy  had  given  him  additional  knowledge  both 
of  life  and  of  pictures.  Whether  his  visit  to  Eng- 
land and  the  deep  impression  made  upon  him  by 


209 


^TJie  T*assage  of  the  Ravine'* 

the  works  of  Lawrence,  Constable  and  Ward 
would  in  the  end  have  brought  him  to  a  point  of 
view  similar  to  that  of  Delacroix  we  cannot  guess. 
The  accident  which  brought  about  his  death  in 
January,  1824,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two,  left 
Gericault  but  little  time  to  profit  by  his  new  experi- 
ences ;  and  the  task  of  carrying  on  the  torch  of 
artistic  vitality  fell  to  his  young  studio-companion, 
Delacroix. 

The  works  executed  by  Gericault  in  his  brief 
career  are  comparatively  few,  even  in  the  public 
galleries  of  France.  Outside  the  Louvre  there  are, 
I  believe,  only  some  fine  studies  at  Rouen  and  a 
portrait  at  Havre,  while  at  Avignon  there  is  a  copy 
of  Gros's  sketch  for  the  BatniUe  de  Nazareth,  and 
Gericault  is  said  to  have  paid  a  thousand  francs 
for  the  privilege  of  making  it.  The  appearance  in 
England  of  an  important  picture  by   so   rare  a 


master  is  thus  a  matter  of  some  artistic  interest, 
especially  since  The  Passage  of  ihe  Ravine,  dating 
from  about  the  year  18 16,  is  in  every  way  typical 
of  its  maker's  genius,  his  military  inclinations, 
his  love  of  horses,  his  forcible  but  somewhat 
gloomy  dramatic  feeling,  his  spirited  brush- 
work,  and,  above  all,  the  exuberant  vitality  and 
energy  of  the  piece,  well  worthy  of  a  cham- 
pion of  artistic  liberty,  even  though  fate  decided 
that  Gericault  was  not  himself  to  be  the  lilierator 
in  chief.  Yet,  standing  as  he  does  on  the  very 
borderline  between  the  art  of  the  past  and  of  the 
present,  he  is  a  figure  of  some  historical  importance, 
and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  call  the  attention  of 
Londoners  to  The  Passage  of  ihe  Ravine,  while 
there  is  still  a  chance  of  seeing  it,  since  even  in  the 
Wallace  Collection  Gericault  is  represented  only 
by  one  small  oil  study  and  a  water  colour. 


JACOPO  DEL  SELLAIO 
^  BY  HERBERT  P.  HORNE  c*c 


LTHOUGH  Milanesi  had 
given  some  account  of  Jacopo 
del  Sellaio  in  his  commentary 
on  the  '  Life  of  Fra  Filippo,' 
which  appeared  in  the  edition 
of  Vasari  published  at  Florence 
by  Sansoni    in    1878-82 ;i   and 

Messrs.  Crowe  and  Cavalcaselle 

had  briefly  alluded  to  this  master  in  the  Florentine 
edition  of  their  '  History  of  Painting  in  Italy' ;-  it 
remained  for  Herr  Hans  Mackowsky,  in  a  series 
of  two  articles  which  appeared  in  the  Prussian 
'  Jahrbuch  '  for  1899,^  to  reconstruct  the  character 
of  Jacopo  as  a  painter,  and  to  bring  together  a 
number  of  his  minor  works  which  had  hitherto 
passed  under  other  names.  These  two  articles 
were  reviewed  by  Mrs.  Mary  Logan  in  the  '  Revue 
Archeologique,'*  and  many  additional  paintings 
ascribed  by  her  to  Jacopo,  on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Berenson.  Since  that  time  the  list  of  his  works 
has  been  largely  increased.  The  purpose  of  this 
paper,  however,  is  to  cast  into  a  synthetical  form, 
both  those  facts  of  Jacopo's  life  which  have  already 
been  published,  and  those  which  the  writer  is  now 
able  to  put  forth  for  the  first  time.  Thrown  into  such 
a  form,  it  will  be  seen,  I  think,  that  our  knowledge 
of  the  painter's  career  is  now  sufficient  for  a  com- 
plete stylistic  criticism  of  his  works. 

'  infinite  number  of  masters '  who, 
to  Vasari,  were  placed  in  their  youth 
with  Fra  Filippo  Lippi  were  '  Sandro  Boticello 
.  .  .  and  Jacopo  del  Sellaio,  the  Florentine,  who 
painted  two  panels    in    San  Friano,  and   one    in 

'Vol.  ii,  pp.  642-3. 

-Ed.  Le  Monnier,  1886,  etc.,  vol.  v,  pp.  256-8. 

^  Vol.  X.V,  pp.  192  and  271. 

*L.c.,  Paris,  1900,  sei".  iii,  vol,  xxxv,  p.  478, 


Among  the 
according 


the  Carmine,  executed  in  tempera.'^  Of  the  large 
number  of  paintings  which  came  from  the  work- 
shop of  this  master,  not  a  few  have,  until  recently, 
been  ascribed  to  Botticelli  ;  but,  although  Sandro's 
influence  is  to  be  traced  both  in  his  design  and 
colour,  only  in  rare  instances  does  Jacopo  delibe- 
rately set  himself  to  imitate  the  motives,  or  the 
sentiment,  of  his  great  contemporary. 

It  appears  from  documentary  evidence  that 
this  painter  was  the  only  son  of  Arcangiolo  di 
Jacopo,  'sellaio'  or  saddler,  and  his  wife,  Monna 
Gemma.  According  to  the  '  Portata '  returned  by 
his  father  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1469,^ 
Jacopo  was  then  twenty-six  years  of  age  ;  and 
consequently  was  born  about  the  same  time  as 
Botticelli.  It  is,  therefore,  extremely  probable 
that  he  worked  with  Sandro  in  the  '  bottega '  of 
Fra  Filippo.  In  1469,  Jacopo  was  living  with 
his  father  and  mother,  his  sister,  Lucrezia,  and  a 
cousin  named  Giovanni,  in  a  part  of  a  house 
which  they  rented  from  his  mother's  sister, 
Monna  Piera,  in  Via  San  Donato,  situated 
behind  the  church  of  the  Carmine,  in  an 
outlying  part  of  the  city,  and  known  as  Cam- 
aldoli.  In  1472,  Jacopo  was  already  a  member 
of  the  Compagnia  di  San  Luca,  and  it  appears 
from  entries  in  the  '  Libro  Rosso,''  in  which 
he  is  described  as  '  Jachopo  darchangel°  dipin- 
tore  Trapellicaj,'  that  he  paid  fees  to  the  con- 
fraternity in  October,  1473.  According  to  a 
later    'Denunzia'    returned    by    his    father     in 

5  Vasari,  ed.  1550,  vol.  i,  p.  401.  ,  „      r^     ■ 

Tirenze  :    R.    Archivi     di     State.     Arch,     delle    Decime; 

Quarliere  Santo  Spirito,   Gonfalone   Drago  ;   Campione,   1469, 

No.  verde  909,  fol.  120  recto.  .,,„,.        ,      •      j- 

'  Firenze  :  R.  Arcliivio  di   Stato     Arch,  dell'  Accademia   di 

Belle  Arli,  No.  2,  fol.  81  tergo  and  fol.  82  recto. 


210 


1480-1/  Jacopo  was  still  living  in  the  same  house 
with  his  family,  which  is  thus  described  in  this 
document : — '  Archangiolo  of  the  age  of  seventy 
years.  Monna  Gemma,  my  wife  of  the  age  of 
sixty-five,  Jacopo,  my  son,  of  the  age  of  thirty- 
six  years  :  he  follows  the  art  of  a  painter,  and  is 
a  partner  for  a  half  share  in  the  rent  of  a  shop, 
which  he  holds  from  Francesco  di  Soldo  degli 
Strozzi,  situated  in  the  Piazza  di  San  Miniato  fra 
le  Torri,  below  his  [the  owner's]  house,  etc.;  he 
pays  for  the  said  half  share  12  lire.  Filippo  di  Giul- 
iano  pays  the  other  half,  namely  12  lire.  Francesca, 
wife  of  the  said  Jacopo,  of  the  age  of  twenty-four 
years.  Archangiolo,  son  of  the  said  Jacopo,  two 
years  old.'  The  Piazzo  di  San  Miniato  fra  le  Torri, 
which  was  swept  away  in  the  course  of  the  recent 
reconstruction  of  the  old  centre  of  Florence, 
opened  out  of  the  Via  de'  Pellicciai,  or  Pellicceria 
as  it  was  commonly  called,  a  street  which  ran 
from  the  Via  Porta  Rossa  to  the  south-west  corner 
of  the  Mercato  Vecchio.  The  shop  which  Jacopo 
rented  in  this  Piazza,  in  1480,  was  in  the  same 
locality  (if,  indeed,  it  was  not  the  same  shop)  in 
which,  according  to  the  '  Libro  Rosso,'  he  was 
working  in  1472,  '  tra  Pellicciai.'  His  partner, 
Filippo  di  Giuliano,  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Compagnia  di  San  Luca.  His  name  occurs  in  the 
'  Libro  Vecchio'"  of  that  confraternity  in  an  entry 
of  the  year  1460:  'Filippo  di  giuliano  dipintore 
m  cccc"  Ix.'  Other  entries  in  the  '  Libro 
Rosso '  show  that  he  paid  fees  to  the  confra- 
ternity in  1472  and  1482  :  in  those  of  1472,  he 
is  described  as  '  Filippo  di  giuliano  dipintore 
nel  chorsso  degli  animallj ' — a  corrupted  form 
of  the  name,  Corso  degli  Adimari.'"  The  exis- 
tence of  this  partnership  goes  to  explain  the 
large  number  of  works  which  have  come  down  to 
us  from  the  '  bottega '  of  Jacopo  del  Sellaio,  and 
which  are,  at  least,  in  his  manner,  if  not  by  his 
hand  ;  many  of  them  having  apparently  been  exe- 
cuted subsequently  to  his  death.  According  to  the 
'Denunzia'  returned  by  Filippo  di  Giuliano,  in 
1498,  "  that  master  was  still  working  as  a  painter 
in  Florence  at  that  time.  He  describes  himself 
as  '  Filippo  di  giuliano  di  matheo  dipintore  popolo 
di  santa  luciade  magnioli.'  Jacopo  del  Sellaio  died 
on  the  12th  November,  1493,  and  was  buried  in 
the  church  of  San  Frediano.'-  His  son  Arcangiolo, 
who  survived  him,  was  also  a  painter,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Compagnia  di  San  Luca.  He  is  registered 
in  the  '  Libro  Vecchio  '  of  that  confraternity  ;  and 

'Kirenze  :  R.  Archivio  diStato.  Arch,  delle  Decime;  Quarliere 
Santo  Spirito,  Gonfalone  Drago  ;  Campione,  I480,  Primo,  No. 
Verde  99g,  fol.  126  recto. 

"Firenze:  R.  Archivio  di  Stalo.  Arch,  dell'  Accademia  di 
Belle  Arti,  No.  i,  fol.  8  tergo. 

'"L.c,  fol.  49  tergo  and  fol.  50  recto. 

"  Firenze  :  R.  Archivio  di  Stato.  Arch  delle  Decime  ;  Quartiere 
Santo  Spirito,  Gonfalone  Scala ;  Campione,  1498,  No.  verde  I, 
fol.  478  recto. 

"  Firenze  :  R.  Archivio  di  Stato.  Arch,  di  Medici  e  Speziali, 
No.  247,  fol.  53  recto, 


Jacopo  del  Sellaio 

his  name  occurs  also  in  the  '  Libro  Rosso,'  '*  in 
entries  of  the  years  1504  and  1505.  He  died  on 
the  1st  March,  1531,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two'years. " 

Jacopo  :del  Sellaio  is  known  to  have  painted 
several  altarpieces  for  churches  in  Florence  :  of 
these  five  are  extant.  Since  the  dates  of  the  execution 
of  three  of  these  pictures  are  to  be  ascertained  with 
tolerable  certainty,  they  afford  a  clue  to  the  develop- 
ment of  his  manner  and  the  chronology  of  his  other 
works.  An  entry  in  a  '  Libro  di  Ricordi '  of  ALatteo 
di  Jacopo  Domenici  da  Selva,  Rector  of  the  church 
of  Santa  Lucia  de'  Magnoli,  in  Florence,  the  text 
of  which  has  recently  been  printed  by  Signor 
Giglioli,  in  the  '  Revista  d'Arte,'  '^  throws  no  little 
light  upon  the  history  of  the  earliest  of  these  altar- 
pieces,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  its  original 
position  in  the  church.  Done  into  English,  this 
entry  runs  thus  :  '  I,  ALatheo  di  Jacopo,  record 
how  Agnolo  di  Michele,  linaiuolo,  for  the  one 
moiety,  and  Nichodemo  and  Batista,  brothers 
and  sons  of  Francescho  di  Simone  Nentj,  for  the 
other  moiety,  caused  a  painting  on  panel  and  an 
altar  to  be  made  in  honour  of  the  Annunciation 
of  our  Lady,  and  of  the  lady,  Saint  Lucy ; 
with  their  arms,  and  at  their  charges,  touching 
the  altar,  the  panel  and  the  painting.  E.xcepting 
that  I  paid  to  Master  Jacopo  d'Archangiolo, 
painter,  one  ducat  of  mine  own,  for  refreshing  and 
washing  the  figure  of  Saint  Lucy,  which  was,  and 
is,  the  property  of  our  church  :  and  I  remitted  to 
Master  Filippo  di  Giuliano,  painter  and  partner  of 
the  said  Master  Jacopo,  two  florins  which  he 
owed  to  me ;  and  for  the  said  two  florins,  he  is 
under  obligation  to  make  for  me  a  cross  of  wood 
of  the  said  value.'  The  writer  goes  on  to  state, 
among  other  things,  that  the  permission  to  carry 
out  these  works  was  given  on  the  understanding 
that  the  rector  of  the  church  should  be  at  liberty 
to  renew  the  'palchetto '  or  ceiling,  as  well  as  the 
ornaments,  of  this  altar  of  Saint  Lucy.  Finally, 
this  'ricordo'  is  dated  the    loth  December,  1473. 

The  paintings  here  alluded  to  still  remain  over 
the  first  altar  to  the  left  on  entering  the  church  of 
Santa  Lucia,  in  the  Via  de'  Bardi.  The  central 
panel  consists  of  the  picture  of  St.  Lucy,  which 
Jacopo  del  Sellaio  '  washed  and  refreshed  ' ;  an 
almost  life-sized  figure,  at  half-length,  which  in 
spite  of  its  repainted  condition  appears  to  have 
been  an  admirable  work  by  Pietro  Lorenzetti, 
e.xecuted  in  all  probability  c.  1340,  when  that 
master  was  painting  in  Florence.  The  two  lateral 
panels  contain  whole-length  figures  of  the  Virgin 
and  St.  Gabriel  against  backgrounds  of  feigned 
marble  panelling;  and  together  form  an  'Annun- 
ciation.' These  panels  present  all  the  characteristic 
traits  of  Jacopo's  earlier  manner,  and  were  first 
ascribed  to  him  by  Herr  Mackowsky,  in  the  Prussian 


"  L.c,  fol.  6  tergo  and  fol.  7  redo. 
'*  Vasari,  ed.  Sansoni,  vol.  ii,  p.  ^\1- 
1'  Anno  1906,  vol.  iv,  p.  1S8. 


21  I 


Jacopo  del  Sellaio 


'  Jahrbuch,'  for  1899."^  We  may  conclude  then 
from  this  '  ricordo,'  that  the  central  panel  formed 
the  original  painting  of  the  altar  of  St.  Lucy,  which 
shortly  before  the  date  of  the  '  ricordo,'  loth 
December,  1473,  had  been  granted  to  the  family  of 
the  Nenti,  who  then  caused  the  lateral  panels  to  be 
added  by  Jacopo  del  Sellaio,  and  the  altar  itself  to 
be  re-dedicated  to  the  '  Annunciation.'  They  are, 
therefore,  not  later  than  1473,  and  were  probably 
painted  during  that  year ;  and  are  amongst  the 
earliest  works  by  the  master  which  have  come 
down  to  us.  In  their  general  conception  they 
recall  the  two  little  panels  of  the  '  Annunciation  '  by 
Fra  Filippo  Lippi,  Nos.  263  and  264,  in  the 
Academy  at  Florence  ;  and  are,  perhaps,  more 
directly  reminiscent  of  that  master's  manner  than 
any  other  of  his  extant  works. 

The  altarpiece  once  in  the  church  of  the  Car- 
mine, at  Florence,  to  which  Vasari  alludes,  has  long 
since  disappeared  ;  unless  it  be  one  of  two  large 
panels  which  are  now  preserved  in  the  gallery  of 
the  Uftizi.  The  other  two  altarpieces  mentioned 
by  Vasari  are  still  extant.  The  parish  church  of 
San  Friano,  or  Frediano,  formerly  stood  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Piazza  of  the  same  name,  which 
lay  between  the  Borgo  and  the  Piazza  del  Carmine. 
This  church,  which  was  one  of  the  twelve  ancient 
'  Priorie'  of  Florence,  and  which  since  1514  had 
been  attached  to  a  house  of  Augustine  nuns,  was 
suppressed  in  the  year  1783,  when  its  fabric  was 
converted  into  dwelling  houses,  and  the  church  of 
the  neighbouring  monastery  of  the  Cestello  became 
the  parish  church  under  the  ancient  dedication. 
Stefano  Rosselli,  in  his  '  Sepoltuario  Fiorentino,' 
which  he  finished  in  1657,"  has  preserved  some 
account  of  the  two  paintings  by  Jacopo  del  Sellaio 
which  were  once  in  this  church,  and  of  the  altars 
which  they  adorned.  Above  the  fourth  altar,  on  the 
right  on  entering  the  building,  he  relates,  was  '  an 
antique  painting  on  panel  of  the  Pieta,  with  orna- 
ments of  terra  cotta,  in  the  manner  of  Luca  della 
Robbia.'  This  altarpiece  bore  the  arms  of  the 
Compagnia  di  San  Frediano  ;  Azure,  a  latin  cross 
between  the  letters,  S  and  F,  gules.  Giuseppe  Richa 
states  more  particularly  that  the  picture  represented 
'a  Pieta  with  Saint  Jerome  and  Saint  Frediano  on 
either  side,'  and  speaks  of  the  beauty  of  '  the 
cherubim  in  relief '  on  the  frieze,  and  of  'the  risen 
Christ  in  the  lunette,  executed  in  terra  cotta  by 
Luca  della  Robbia.'"  According  to  Miianesi, 
Jacopo  del  Sellaio  was  commissioned  by  the 
members  of  the  Compagnia  di  San  Frediano, 
delta  la  Bruciata,  to  paint  this  picture  for  the 
altar  of  their  chapel  in  1483.  He  adds  that 
the  members  of  this  confraternity  having  renewed 
their  altar   and  adorned  their  chapel  in  the  year 

'^  Vol.  XX,  p.  282. 

''  Firenze  :  R.  Biblioteca  Nazionale.  Cod.  Magliabechiano, 
CI.  xxvi.  No.  22,  fol.  Ill  recto. 

"G.  Richa:  'Notizie  Istoriche  delle  Chiese  Florentine, 
Firenze,  1754,  vol.  ix,  r-  1/7. 

212 


1520,  caused  Andrea  della  Robbia  and  his 
son,  Luca,  to  execute  in  glazed  terra-cotta  ware 
the  ornaments  of  which  Giuseppe  Richa  speaks, 
and  also  commissioned  Jacopo  del  Sellaio's  son, 
Arcangiolo,  to  retouch  his  father's  picture  and 
furnish  a  new  carved  and  gilt  frame  at  a  cost  of 
more  than  lire  60  for  gold  and  labour.  Miianesi, 
unfortunately,  gives  no  reference  to  these  docu- 
ments, and  I  have  not  succeeded  in  tracing  them.'' 
On  the  suppression  of  the  Church  of  San  Frediano, 
this  painting  was  sold,  and  afterwards  passed  into 
the  collection  of  Mr.  Solly,  as  a  work  by  Domenico 
Ghirlandaio  ;  Giovanni  Cinelli,  in  his  edition  of 
the  '  Bellezze  di  Firenze,'*"  having  alluded  to  it 
as  a  work  of  Ghirlandaio's  school,  and  Richa  as  a 
work  by  the  master  himself.  In  1821,  it  was 
acquired  with  the  rest  of  the  Solly  collection  for 
the  museum  at  Berlin,  No.  1,055,  where  it  is  at 
last  ascribed  to  its  proper  author. 

In  the  possession  of  the  writer  is  a  fragment  of 
a  *  predella,'  which  was  originally  painted  with  a 
series  of  stories,  divided  by  feigned,  gilt  balusters, 
as  in  the  'predella'  of  the  altarpiece  by  Botticelli, 
once  in  the  Church  of  San  Marco,  and  now  in  the 
Academy  at  Florence  No.  74.  The  fragment 
in  question  represents  Saint  Jerome  in  the 
wilderness,  and  may  not  improbably  have  formed 
a  part  of  the  '  predella '  of  the  panel,  now  at  Berlin, 
since  in  none  of  the  other  extant  altarpieces  by 
Jacopo  del  Sellaio  is  Saint  Jerome  represented. 

Above  the  third  altar  on  the  left,  on  entering 
the  Church  of  San  Frediano,  records  Rosselli,  near 
the  side-door  opening  into  the  Borgo,  was  a 
painting  on  panel  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  with 
Saint  Laurence  on  the  gridiron.''  This  altar  also 
bore  the  arms  of  the  Company  of  San  Frediano  ; 
and  Rosselli  adds  that '  the  Chapel  of  San  Lorenzo,' 
as  the  altar  was  called,  '  belongs  to  the  Compagnia 
di  San  Friano,  commonly  called  "  della  Bruciata," 
and  was  erected  out  of  a  bequest  made  by  Lorenzo 
di  Bartolommeo  del  Passera,  who  left  all  his  pos- 
sessions to  the  said  company,  which  causes  office 
to  be  said  there,  and  also  elects  the  chaplain,  and 
pays  him  three  scudi  the  month.  His  will  was 
executed  in  1490.  In  that  will,  among  other 
bequests,  is  one  whereby  a  dish  of  roasted  chesnuts 
is  given  to  all  the  officials  of  the  company,  for  the 
time  being,  on  the  morning  of  the  feast  of  San 
Frediano  ;  and  from  this  the  said  company  has, 
perhaps,  taken  its  name,  "  della  Bruciata." ' 

Since  the  bequest  for  the  erection  of  this  altar 
was  not  made  until  1490,  and  Jacopo  del  Sellaio 
died  in  November,  1493,  it  is  evident  that  this 
altarpiece  was  among  the  last  works  of  the  master. 
Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  he  had  not  received 
payment  for  it  at  the  time  of  his  death,  for  it  is  to 

"  Vasari,  ed.  Sanson!,  vol.  ii,  p.  642-3. 
'"Ed.  1677,  p.  162. 

='Cod.  Magliabechiano,  CI.  xxvi,  No.  22,  fol.  109  recto  and 
fol.  113  tergo. 


Jacopo  del  Sellaio 


this  picture,  and  not  to  the  altarpiece  at  Berlin,  as 
Milanesi  supposed,  that  certain  documents  cited 
by  him  must  refer.''  According  to  these  docu- 
ments, a  dispute  having  arisen  between  the  syndics 
of  the  Compagnia  di  San  Frediano  and  the  painter's 
son,  Arcangiolo,  concerning  the  price  to  be  paid 
for  '  a  painting  on  panel,  executed  for  the  chapel 
of  the  said  confraternity  by  Jacopo,  the  father  of 
the  said  Arcangiolo,  deceased,'  the  litigants  agreed 
on  13th  March,  1515-6,  to  submit  the  matter  to 
arbitration.  Giuliano  Bugiardini  and  Kidolfo 
Ghirlandaio,  having  been  appointed  arbitrators, 
ordered  the  syndics,  on  the  24th  of  the  same 
month,  to  pay  lire  170  piccioli,  as  the  price  of  the 
picture.  These  documents  contain  no  other  parti- 
culars of  the  nature  of  the  painting  in  dispute  : 
but  it  is  far  more  probable  that  they  refer  to  a 
picture  which  perhaps  remained  unfinished  at  the 
time  of  Jacopo's  death,  than  to  one  painted  as  far 
back  as  1483.^^  On  the  suppression  of  the  old 
church  of  San  Frediano  in  1783,  the  altarpiece 
was  taken  to  the  Cestello,  which  then  became  the 
new  parish  church  ;  and  the  painting  now  hangs 
in  the  sacristy,  but  without  either  frame  or '  predella.' 
In  this  work  all  the  idiosyncrasies  of  Jacopo's 
design  are  carried  to  extremes.  The  attitudes  of 
the  figures  are  more  constrained,  the  types  of  the 
heads  with  their  scowling  brows  more  exaggerated, 
and  the  draperies  more  mannered  than  in  the 
earlier  panel  at  Berlin. 

In  these  three  altarpieces,  then,  which  are  still  to 
be  seen  in  the  church  of  Santa  Lucia,  in  the 
museum  at  Berlin  and  in  the  sacristy  of  San  Fre- 
diano, we  have  authenticated  examples  of  Jacopo's 
manner  at  the  beginning,  in  the  middle  and  at  the 
end  of  his  career.  But  in  these  ambitious  works, 
interesting  as  they  are  to  the  student,  since  they 
afford aclue  to  the developmentof  Jacopo's  manner, 
this  master  appears  to  little  advantage.  His  re- 
stricted and  over-mannered  convention,  his  defi- 
cient sense  of  beauty  of  form  and  of  the  larger 
qualities  of  design,  are  sadly  evident  in  these  panels. 
Had  he  painted  nothing  else,  his  work  would 
scarcely  have  been  confused  with  that  of  Botticelli. 
But  in  his  smaller  pictures,  and  especially  in  his 
stories  of  little  figures,  which  he  executed  chiefly 
for  furniture  panels,  his  facility  and  power  of 
improvisation  stand  him  in  good  stead.  In  these 
pieces,  his  convention  admirably  serves  the  turn  of 
a  purely  decorative  art,  and  that  gift  of  story-telling 
which  he  shares  with  all  true  Florentines  enables 
him  to  turn  even  his  absurdities  to  effect.     For 

'^Vasari,  ed.  Sanson!,  vol.  ii,  p.  6423. 

^'Firenzc:  R.  Archivio  di  Stalo.  Kogiti  di  Ser  Giovanni 
Batista  d' Antonio  da  Terranuova  ;  Protocollo  dal  151531  1517, 
fol.  125  recto  and  fol.  133  recto. 


him  the  fables  and  histories  of  antiquity  were  so 
many  '  novelle '  which  he  sets  forth  with  an  engag- 
ing naivete  and  spirit,  in  the  guise  of  the  life 
around  him.  In  such  pieces  he  appears,  the 
last,  but  not  the  least  admirable,  of  those  delightful 
painters  of  furniture  panels  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  who  have  gained  a  place  of  their  own  in 
the  history  of  Florentine  art,  without  entering 
into  competition  with  the  great  masters,  such  as 
Botticelli  or  Filippino,  who  occasionally  executed 
such  things. 

Of  the  two  altarpieces  by  Jacopo  del  Sellaio  in 
the  gallery  of  the  Ufiizi,  one,  No.  1513,  which 
until  recently  was  deposited  in  the  church  of  San 
Jacopo  sopr'  Arno,  at  Florence,  represents  a  Pida 
with  St.  James  the  Greater,  St.  Francis,  St.  Michael 
and  St.  Mary  Magdalene.  It  closely  recalls  in 
conception  and  manner,  the  Pida.  at  Berlin  ; 
hut  is  probably  of  somewhat  later  date.  The 
other,  a  sadly  damaged  panel  in  the  magazine  of 
the  gallery.  No.  4642,  represents  a  Coivnation  of 
the  Virgin,  with  St.  Agatha,  St.  Benedict,  St. 
Andrew,  St.Zenobio,  St.  Romuald  and  the  Baptist ; 
together  with  various  figures  of  angels  playing  on 
musical  instruments.  With  the  exception  of  the 
panels  in  Santa  Lucia,  it  is  the  most  pleasing  of  all 
Jacopo's  altarpieces,  and  the  one  in  which  his 
faults  of  design  are  least  aggressive.  It  would 
appear,  on  internal  evidence,  to  have  been  exe- 
cuted c.  1480. 

I  may  here  add,  that  I  am  unable  to  agree  with 
Mr.  Berenson  in  ascribing  to  Jacopo  del  Sellaio, 
two  of  the  three  altarpieces  which  were  executed 
in  the  '  bottega '  of  Domenico  Ghirlandaio,  for 
the  church  of  the  Badia  a  Settimo,  in  1479.^' 
Of  these  paintings,  now  preserved  in  the  little 
'Museo'  attached  to  the  'Cenacolo  di  Sant' 
Apollonia'  at  Florence,  that  of  the  Piela  recalls 
most  nearly  the  manner  of  Jacopo  del  Sellaio  : 
but  the  resemblance,  even  so  far  as  the  forms  are 
concerned,  is  only  a  partial  one  ;  and  I  fail  to  trace 
Jacopo's  hand  either  in  the  colour  or  in  the  tech- 
nique. The  other  painting  which  Mr.  Berenson 
would  ascribe  to  him,  namely,  the  Adoration  of  the 
Miigi,  is  not  by  the  same  hand  as  the  Pida,  and 
appears  to  be  the  work  of  some  more  immediate 
follower  of  Domenico  Ghirlandaio.  It  is  true  that 
in  such  paintings  as  the  Pida,  at  Berlin,  Jacopo 
unmistakably  betrays  the  influence  of  Domenico  ; 
but  to  the  last  he  always  preserved  his  peculiar 
forms,  colour  and  technical  methods.  The  dis- 
cussion of  Jacopo's  smaller  paintings  I  must  leave 
for  another  occasion. 

^^Vasui,  ed.  Sansoni,  vol.  iii,  p.  279.  B.  Berenson  :  'The 
Drawings  of  tlie  Florentine  Painters,'  London,  1903,  vol.  i, 
p.  72. 


313 


DURER'S  WORKS  IN  THEIR  ORDER 
^  BY  SIR  W.  MARTIN  CONWAY  cA. 


WONDER  whether  any  one 
lelse  has  ever  taken  the  trouble 
/actually  to  try  and  arrange  in 
'chronological  order  a  complete 
(or  tolerably  complete)  set  of 
) photographic  reproductions  of 
l«;^the  work  of  Albrecht  Diirer. 
J^ii^Truth  to  tell,  it  requires  a  certain 
recklessness,  to  call  it  by  no  worse  name,  with  the 
five  stately  volumes  of  Lippmann's  reproductions 
of  Diirer's  drawings,  to  go  to  work  on  them  with 
knives  and  shears,  and  carve  them  to  pieces.  Nor 
does  the  necessary  destruction  end  even  there,  be- 
cause if  you  are  really  to  arrange  in  order  the  dis- 
parted sheets,  along  with  reproductions  of  en- 
gravings and  woodcuts  and  with  photographs  of 
all  Diirer's  pictures  and  photographs  of  other 
drawings  not  reproduced  by  Lippmann,  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  is  to  bring  the  whole  lot  to  one 
moderate  and  easily  handled  size.  A  smaller 
series  (say,  for  instance,  the  works  of  Antonello  da 
Messina)  can  be  dealt  about  without  regard  to  size, 
as  a  big  dining-room  table  will  more  than  iiold  them 
all.  But  Diirer's  works  run  into  the  thousands,  and 
practically  all  are  reproduced.  Before  such  a 
mass  can  be  handled  there  must  be  a  certain 
method  decided  upon.  To  reduce  all  to  one  com- 
mon size  will  be  found  the  first  essential  step. 
This  means  that  the  small  things  must  be  mounted 
up  to  that  size  and  the  larger  ones  cut  down. 
Those  that  are  bigger  than  the  maximum  size  fixed 
upon  must  be  ruthlessly  cropped  into  halves  or 
quarters  and  hinged  together.  Then  if  a  series  of 
suitable  boxes  is  obtained  to  hold  the  entire  col- 
lection, the  student  will  be  ready  to  begin,  and  he 
will  find  that  he  has  a  very  tough  job  in  hand. 
My  collection,  which  is  fairly  complete,  fills  fourteen 
boxes,  whose  internal  measurement  is  14^  by  lof 
by  2^  in.,  and  I  take  this  opportunity  of  saying, 
after  thirty  years'  experience  as  a  collector  of  photo- 
graphs, that  that  is  on  the  whole  the  best  size  for 
the  boxes,  and  that  14I  by  io|  in.  is  about  the  best 
size  for  cards  on  which  photos  may  be  mounted 
or  otherwise  attached.  The  next  thing  to  do  is  to 
arrange  the  dated  objects  in  their  order,  and  then 
comes  the  wrestle  with  the  undated. 

My  own  order  has  been  arrived  at  in  a  series  of 
years  with  the  help  of  all  the  published  literature 
on  the  subject,  supplemented  by  frequent  experi- 
ments. There  are  various  lists  of  the  engravings 
in  chronological  order ;  none  of  them,  to  my 
thinking,  is  satisfactory,  because  they  are  not  based 
upon  general  but  upon  particular  considerations — 
still  they  are  useful  and  suggestive.  The  minor 
woodcuts  liave  interested  me  less,  and  I-  have  not 
troubled  much  about  them  ;  besides,  many  of 
them  are  only  poorly  reproduced.  Few  of  the 
paintings  give  rise  to  much  controversy.  Many  of 
the  drawings  are  hard  to  place.   Some  are  impossible 


to  me.  In  what  follows  I  propose  to  give  an  example 
of  the  kind  of  list  I  wish  that  some  serious  Durer 
student   would   prepare.      I    am   not   a  '  serious ' 
student  of  anything  and  don't  wish  to  be  ;  but  at 
intervals  such  work  is  a  pleasant  recreation,  and  so 
I    have  availed  myself  of  it  when  I   felt  inclined. 
It  is  best  to  insert  in  the  list  the  chief  events  of 
Diirer's  life  as  guideposts  or  milestones  of  the  road. 
AlbrccJit    Di'iio,    born    21st    May,     1471,    of  a 
H  niigarinn  failicr  and  a  Gcniian  mother.     I  take 
the    Hungarian  element  in   him  to  have  been  a 
very  important  factor  in  his  make-up.     It  is  seldom 
emphasized. 

I481.   Self-portrait  drawing  (Albertina,  L.  448). 

C.1484.  One  of  the  Ten  Virgins  (Brit.  Mus.,  L.208). 

1485.  V.  and  Cd.  with  two  angels  (Berlin,  L.  i). 

This  drawing  must  be  compared  with 

the     Flemalle     master's     often-repeated 

picture,    of   which  the   version   in    New 

York    Met.    Mus.   may  be   the   original. 

That  picture  has  some  affiliation   to  the 

H.  v.  Eyck   'V.  and  Cd.  in  St.  Bavon's ' 

at    Berlin.      Flemalle's   picture,    besides 

being  often  copied,  was  imitated  by  G. 

David,   Isenbrandt,  and  others,  and  the 

angels  in  it  were  widely  copied,  as,  e.g., 

in  Louvre  (22026) ;  J.  G.  Johnson  coll. 

picture   attr.  to  Justus  of  Ghent ;    King 

of  Roumania's  coll.  pict.  attr.  to  Vicente 

Juan  de  Juanes,  and  here  in  this  young 

Diirer's  drawing. 

i486.  Portrait   of    his   father   (Albertina).     The 

date  appears  on  a  poor  copy  at  Schloss 

Rheinstein. 

Diirer  apprenticed  to  Wolgcmut,  50th  Xov.,  14S6. 

1487.    Self-portrait  in  background  of  Wolgemut's 

'St.    Veit   curing   lunatic,'   Germ.    Mus. 

Nuremberg  (see  Rep.  1908,  p.  42.) 

1489.  Some  drawings  of  riders:  one  in  Lawrence 
coll.  (since  lost),  also  L.  100,  and  Becker- 
ath  coll.  (Ex.  B.-A.  Paris,  1879,  Br.  241). 

do.         Three  pike-men  (Berlin,  L.  2). 
End  of  apprenticeship,  sotli  Nov.,  i-tSg. 

1490.  Portrait  of  his  father  (  Uftizi). 

W anderschaft   after  nth  April,   141)0, 
till  aftei  iSth  May,  1404.      In  149 --3  /"-' 
li'as  at  Basel. 
1490-94.    Threestudiesof  trees  (L.  162,  102,  221); 
A  quantity  of  woodcuts  ascribed  to  the 
Master    of    Bergmann's   printing-house. 
1492.     Woodcut  of  St.  Jerome. 
c.  1492-3.     Christ  and  the  V.  (Louvre,  D.  Soc.) ; 
Woman  (L.  346) ;  Lovers  (Hamburg,  D. 
Soc.)  ;   John   Bapt.   (B.  Mus.,  D.   Soc.) ; 
and  L.  345. 

A  number  of  drawings  of  riders  (L. 
209,  Ambrosiana  Br.  197,  Berlin  Jahr.  Pr. 
Kss.  1897,  L.  304),  and  with  these  I  group 
the  engraving  B.  81  traditionally  ascribed 


214 


T)urer  s  JVorks  in  their  Order 


to  Diirer  but  taken  away  from  him  of 
late  by  superior  persons. 
t493  Woodcut  Crucifixion.  The  following 
drawings  :  L.  300,  450,  and  458  (appar- 
ently connected  with  a  similar  drawing 
sold  at  Dresden  in  1862,  thus  dated  on 
the  back). 

Some  drawings  at  this  time  have  studies 
of  hands,  apparently  his  own  hand  more 
than  once.  Such  is  L.  429  (self-portrait), 
with  L.  430,  the  first  study  for  the  engrav- 
ing B.  44,  on  the  back  of  it.  With  this 
goes  L.  144  and  others.  The  painted 
self-portrait  of  1493  is  apparently  of  the 
same  age  as  the  Erlangen  drawing, 
L.429. 

Here  also  come  a  whole  series  of  studies 
for  the  Holy  Family  engraving,  B.  44. 
They  are  L.  430,  G.  Mayer  coll.  (D.  Soc), 
Gathorne  Hardy  coll.  (Vasari  Soc),  Ber- 
lin Mus.  (Gaz.  B.-A).  With  them  must 
surely  be  grouped  the  engraving  itself  as 
of  1493-4  at  latest.  The  only  reason  for 
putting  it  later  is  the  gondola-like  boat 
in  the  background.  Surely  he  could 
have  drawn  that  without  going  to  Venice. 
The  pen-and-ink  landscape,  formerly  in 
Galichon  coll.,  is  an  Italian  copy  (by 
Campagnola  ?)  of  the  landscape  in  the 
engraving.  Here  also  I  should  like  to 
introduce  the  Genovefa  engraving,  B.  63, 
say  c.  1494.  It  has  the  same  gondola- 
like boat. 
End  of  DhrcYS  Wandcnchaft  after  iSth  May, 

1494- 
1494.  '  Mein  Agnes,'  L.  457,  and  the  landscapes, 
L.  104  and  4. 
Diirer  married  yth  July,  1494,  and  soon  after 
went  aii'ay  to  Italy,  To  this  journey  the  following 
drawings  are  to  be  attributed,  and,  as  they  are 
very  important,  I  quote  them  at  length.  I  should 
very  much  like  to  add  to  them  the  Frankfurt 
picture  of  the  Venetian  Ebra  now  almost  univer- 
sally attributed  to  Bart.  Veneto,  whose  work  it 
seems  to  me  to  resemble  only  superficially. 

1494.     A  Brenner   town,  probably   Innsbruck. 

Albeftina,  L.  452,  453. 
1494.     Boy    sketching    by    Alpine    water-mill. 

Berlin,  L.  441. 
1494.     Trient.     Brit.  Mus.,  L.90. 
1494.     Death   of   Orpheus.      Hamburg,    Diirer 
Soc. 

1494.  Copy  of  Mantegna  print.     Albertina,  L. 

455- 

1495.  Copy  of  another  do.     Albertina,  L.  434. 
1495.     Copy  of  a  PoUaiuolo  drawing.     Bonnat 

coll.,  L.  347.     One  of  the  figures  sug- 
gested that  of  D.'s  Great  Hercules. 
1495.     Copy  of  a  L.  di  Credi  drawing.  Schickler 
coll.,  L.  384. 


c.  1495.     Pageofskelch-book  with  figure  borrowed 

from  antique  Cupid   bending  bow   of 

Hercules,  lions'  heads  after  a  sculpture, 

rape  of  Europa,  etc.    Albertina,  L.  456. 
c.  1495.     Venetian  architectural  sketches.     Berlin, 

L.  13.     On  the  back  is 
c.  1495.     Man's  legs,  armadillo,  etc.    Berlin,  L.  12. 
c.  1495.     Page  of  sketch-book,  with    nude   man, 

child     (after   Giorgione),    knight,    etc. 

Ut^zi,  Br.  962. 
c.  1495.     Horses'     swimming     apparatus.      Brit. 

Mus.,  L.  255.    Do.  on  the  back  of  leaf, 

L.  254. 
c.  1495.     St.  Catherine  in  Venetian  attire.  Cologne 

Mus. 
1495.     Venetian  woman.    Albertina,  L.  459, 
c.  1495.     Do.  and  Nuremberg  woman.    Frankfurt, 

L.  187. 
c,  1495.     Venetian  woman.     Basel,  Diirer  Soc. 
c.  1495.     Italian  lake  landscape.    Erlangen,  L.  431. 
c.  1495.     Trient.     Bremen,  L.  109. 
c.  1495.     Innsbruck  about  June  or  July.   Albertina, 

L.  451. 
c.  1495.     Landscape   with    castle.     Albertina,    L. 

449- 
c.  1495.     Two    sketches    of    quarries.      Bremen, 
L.  106,  107. 

Diirer  settled  in  Ntirembcrg  again  in  i4()S<  pi'O- 
bably  in  the  autumn,  because  his  Innsbriick  sketch 
(as  the  snow  on  the  mountains  shows)  was  done 
in  June  or  July.  It  is  natural  to  assign  to  the  period 
immediately  succeeding  his  return  those  works  in 
which  the  studies  made  on  the  Italian  journey  are 
used.  Such  are  : — Pupilla  Augusta  (L.  389)  ;  St. 
Jerome  engr.  (B.  61)  ;  The  Apocalypse  woodcuts 
(designed  doubtless  1495-6),  and  others.  The 
landscape  L.  103  is  ascribed  by  the  latest  authority 
to  the  days  shortly  after  D's  return  home. 

Here  also  I  put,  though  they  may  be  pre- 
Venetian,  the  Frankfurt  drawing  Death  and  the 
Kider  (L.  193)  and  linked  with  it  the  Wild  Man 
and  Woman  engraving  (B.  92.)  It  always  amuses 
me  to  note  how  very  like  Diirer's  biographer, 
Thausing,  in  his  madder  moods  is  this  same  wild 
man.  With  this  too  goes  B.  79  and  the  drawing 
for  it  (L.  203).  Here,  too,  I  imagine  come  the 
riders  :  B.  80,  the  Munich  drawing  (if  by  D.),  and 
the  Berlin  drawing  (L.  3,  dated  1496).  The  first  two 
of  these  may  be  pre-Venetian,  but  the  third  is 
clearly  correctly  dated.  Diirer  got  the  under- 
bred, long-haired,  gay-dispositioned  terrier,  which 
appears  in  it,  on  his  return  from  his  first  Italian 
journey,  and  its  occurrence  suffices  to  date  things 
to  the  period  c.  1496-1503.  It  turns  up  indeed  in 
the  little  woodcut  Passion,  but  the  designs  for 
some  at  least  of  that  series  are  very  early,  even 
c.  1496.  The  engraving  B.  84  (Cook  and  Wife)  is 
contemporary  with  the  Apocalypse  designs,  the 
same  model  in  both.  The  Prodigal  Son  (B.  28), 
and   the    Lansee    pig-monster,    and     Brit.    Mus. 


215 


Durer's  JVorks  in  their  Order 


drawing  (B.  95)  are  of  1496,  and  so,  I  believe, 
are  The  Promenade  (B.  94),  Flirtation  (B.  93)  as 
well  as  B.  88,  82,  30,  and  several  of  the  designs  for 
the  Great  Passion,  though  some  of  these  things 
may  run  over  into  1497.  The  big  woodcuts  (B. 
102,  120,  127,  2,  131,  117,  P.  182,  B.  128,  and  the 
great  Crucifixion)  likewise  belong  to  about  this 
time,  but  some  of  them  may  belong  to  1498  or 
even  1499. 

Still,  to  the  years  1496-7  belong  the  portraits  of 
Friedrich  the  Wise  and  his  brother  John,  as  well 
as  the  Dresden  altarpiece  painted  for  them  under 
strong  Italian  influence.  I  ought  to  have  men- 
tioned earlier  the  women's  bath  drawing  (L.  loi) 
dated  1496,  with  which  the  men's  bath  woodcut 
naturally  groups,  and  somewhere  hereabouts  one 
must  introduce  L.  126. 

Of  the  engravings,  B.  85  contains  an  Italian 
model;  B.  83,  86  seem  to  group  with  it  ;  B.  56  is  in- 
fluenced by  Cima,  and  may  well  be  of  1496  or  1497 ; 
B.  55  is  hard  to  place,  but  B.  78  is  of  c.  1496. 

To  1497  we  can,  perhaps,  assign  the  landscape 
L.462,  the  water  colour  V.and  Cd.with  the  beasts 
(L.  460)  and  the  study  for  it  (L.  134).  L.  47  goes 
with  these,  and  so  does  the  woodcut  V.  and  Cd. 
with  the  hares  (B.  102).  The  sunset  landscape 
— not  sunrise — (L.  219)  and  the  Weiherhaus 
(L.  220)  must  be  of  the  same  date,  and  here  too  we 
must  place  the  V.  and  Cd.  with  Monkey  engraving 
(B.  42),  though  the  drawing  from  which  the  V.'s 
head  is  taken  (Uffizi,  Br.  963)  may  date  from  the 
first  Italian  journey.  The  head  in  L.  460  is  very 
similar.  It  may,  however,  be  of  the  date  of  the 
Four  Witches  engraving  (B.  75),  with  which  goes 
a  drawing  in  the  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  vols,  (i,  \o\a 
and  h)  reproduced  in  my  'Lit.  Remains  of  D.'  The 
Dream  engraving  (B.  76)  must  also  be  put  c.  1497. 
Here,  loo,  I  group  L.  113,  73  and  135,  73  being 
dated  1497,  though  135  may  belong  to  the  Barbari- 
like  group  of  1503.  Durer's  portrait  of  his  father 
is  dated  1497,  and  to  that  year  also  belong  the 
Furlegerin  portraits  and  the  three  paintings  on 
linen  in  the  Bib.  N.,  Paris. 

The  above  datings  are  fairly  satisfactory,  but  for 
one  reason.  They  give  to  the  years  1496-7  a  sur- 
viving output  about  twice  as  great  as  what  survives 
for  the  whole  of  the  years  1498-1503.  Still,  if  we 
take  away  the  woodcuts,  which  may  not  have 
been  cut  when  they  were  designed,  the  dispropor- 
tion becomes  less  marked,  and  perhaps  a  good 
many  1497  things  might  be  carried  over  into  1498. 

To  1498  I  attribute  the  following  :  Landscape 
(L.  331)  ;  self-portrait  (Madrid),  Imhof  portrait 
at  Bergamo  (Diirer  ?)  ;  Amymone  engr.  (B.  71) ; 
Knight  (L.  461) ;  and  the  Old  man's  head  (L.  227). 

1499  produced  the  Tucher  portraits  at  Weimar, 
the  Man's  portrait  with  Heidelberg  landscape 
(Diirer  ?),  Oswolt  Krel,  and  the  Great  Hercules 
engr.  (B.  73). 

To  1500  we  can  ascribe  the  design  (if  by  D.)  of 

216 


the  Jabach  altar,  the  Holzschuher  altar,  and  the 
other  Mourning  over  the  dead  Christ  at  Nurem- 
berg, as  well  as  the  Munich  portrait-bust  dated  1500, 
and  the  Hercules  picture  and  drawing  for  it,  L.  207 
(based  on  A.  Pollaiuolo's  picture).  The  landscapes 
in  the  Hercules  and  the  Holzschuher  picture  are 
clearly  related.  The  drawing  at  Rennes  (D.  Soc.) 
may  be  of  this  time  or  a  little  later.  To  1500  I 
prefer  to  ascribe  the  famous  Diirer  self-portrait  at 
Munich,  which  is  thus  dated  with  a  copy  of  what 
was  probably  its  original  inscription.  A  compari- 
son between  it  and  the  Madrid  portrait  of  1498 
shows  that  there  is  but  a  small  difference  of  age 
between  the  two.  The  supposed  relation  between 
the  hand  here,  and  in  the  V.  and  Cd.  picture  of  1 506 
does  not  exist.  Other  works  of  1 500  are  the  cos- 
tume studies  (L.  465, 463,  464),  and  some  woodcuts. 

If  only  one  could  securely  place  the  queer 
drawing  L.  no  (Bremen),  it  would  be  a  great 
help,  because  with  it  one  can  group  some,  at 
any  rate,  of  the  copies  of  the  Italian  prints  of 
virtues,  arts,  etc.  Also  L.  9  and  1 1  seem  to  belong 
to  the  same  date.  L.  no  is  connected  with  Durer's 
Mantegnesque  work,  and  also  with  Barbari  (K.  26), 
and  with  Diirer's  own  engraving  of  1497  (B.  75). 
The  pig  in  it  may  be  related  to  that  in  the  Prodigal 
Son  engraving  of  1495-6.  The  child  in  the  fore- 
ground reminds  us  of  the  child  in  the  Witch 
engraving  (B.  67).  For  these  reasons  it  seems 
possible  to  place  this  drawing  as  far  back  as  1497. 
It  can  hardly  be  placed  later  than  1500.  In 
any  case  L.  11  cannot  be  of  1503-6,  but  must  be 
Durer's  earliest  existing  attempt  at  a  proportion 
drawing.  The  cherub  engraving  (B.  66),  the 
cherub  with  Pirkheimer'sarms  (L.  82),  and  P.'sbook- 
plate  (woodcut,  B.  Ap.  52)  go  with  the  rest  of  these. 

If  readers  of  THE  Burlington  Magazine  can 
stand  any  more  of  this  sort  of  thing  I  can  go  on 
again  some  day  with  Diirer's  work  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  All  the  above  is,  of  course,  purely  pro- 
visional and  subject  to  criticism  and  alteration. 
The  reader  must  remember  that  when  a  number 
of  photographs  have  to  be  put  together  in  a  box, 
one  must  lie  above  another,  and  therefore  some 
definite  order  has  to  be  adopted.  It  is  so  easy  for  a 
writer  to  group  objects  vaguely  together  as  of  about 
1 494-1497.  That  won't  help  the  photograph  col- 
lector, who  must  choose  an  exact  order,  whether  he 
likes  it  or  not.  It  has  been  under  this  compul- 
sion that  my  photographs  have  ranged  themselves, 
and  I  should  be  thankful  to  any  one  who  would 
improve  their  order.  To  do  that,  however,  the 
whole  mass  must  be  considered  together,  and  not 
merely  the  engravings,  or  the  pictures,  or  the 
woodcuts  separately. 

If  space  had  been  less  limited  I  should  have 
quoted  the  many  students  whose  works  have  been 
suggestive  to  me  ;  but  those  familiar  with  this 
subject  will  know  who  they  are,  and  other  readers 
won't  care  either  about  them  or  me. 


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^  NOTES  ON  VARIOUS  WORKS  OF  ART  r*c 


JACOB  MEDITATING    ON  JOSEPH'S 

DREAMS:    AN  UNDESCRIBED  WOODCUT 

BY   HEINRICH   ALDEGREVER 

The  name  of  Aldegrever  has  often  been  recklessly 
bestowed  upon  pictures  and  drawings  that  have 
no  resemblance  to  the  authentic  productions  of 
the  Westphalian  master,  and  nothing  in  common 
among  themselves  except  their  anonymity.  Any 
fresh  attribution  of  such  a  work  to  him 
would  be  regarded  with  just  suspicion  unless 
supported  by  quite  satisfactory  evidence.  In 
dealing  with  engravings  and  woodcuts  we  stand 
on  surer  ground,  and  the  signed  and  dated  wood- 
cut at  Wilton  House  (vol.  4,  of  the  collection  of 
engravings),  which  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  permits 
me  to  publish  and  describe  for  the  first  time,  forms 
a  valuable  and  welcome  addition  to  our  knowledge 
of  Aldegrever. 

Woodcuts  by  this  artist  are  of  the  utmost  rarity, 
and  their  total  number  is  so  small  that  it  is  easy 
to  summarize  in  a  few  lines  what  is  already  known 
about  them  before  introducing  a  description  of 
the  new  subject.'  The  portraits,  fully  analyzed  by 
Dr.  Geisberg,  may  be  neglected  here  as  irrelevant 
to  the  present  purpose.  A  round  woodcut, 
Pyniiniis  and  Thisbe  (P.  2,  N.  33,  S.  2),  of  which 
two  impressions  have  been  described,  at  Munich 
and  Vienna,  differs  markedly  both  in  drawing 
and  cutting  from  the  rest  and  appears  to 
be  earlier.  Dr.  Geisberg  (p.  47)  calls  attention 
to  the  reminiscences  of  South  German  art  in 
this  woodcut,  and  ascribes  it  to  Aldegrever's 
earliest  period,  about  1528.  It  is  reproduced  both 
by  Weigel  and  Hirth-Muther.  Next  comes  an 
upright  subject  {ca.  142  by  94  mm.,  B.  i,  P.  i, 
N.  32,  S.  i),  reproduced  by  Weigel  and  on  p.  45  of 
Dr.  Geisberg's  book,  which  exists  at  Coburg  and 
in  the  University  Galleries  at  Oxford  (Douce  col- 
lection). It  has  generally  been  interpreted,  on 
account  of  the  conspicuous  tower  in  the  back- 
ground, as  St.  Barbara  being  sentenced  to  death 
by  her  father,  but  Dr.  Geisberg  has  shown 
conclusively  that  it  is  a  subject  from  the  history  of 
Joseph,  Gen.  xxxix.  16-20.  Potiphar's  wife  is 
showing  Joseph's  garment  to  her  husband,  and  in 
the  distance  Joseph  is  being  led  away  to  prison. 
This  woodcut  bears  Aldegrever's  monogram,  con- 
spicuously placed  upon  the  sky,  and  in  another 
place  a  date  very  indistinctly  cut,  to  be  read  appar- 
ently as  153 — .  Dr.  Geisberg  proposes  to  interpret 
this  as  1532,  in  which  year  Aldegrever  engraved 
on  copper  three  subjects  from  the  life  of  Joseph 
(B.  18-20) — viz.,  Joseph  telling  his  dreams,  Joseph 

'  See  Bartsch,  viii,  453;  Passavant,  iv,  106;  Nagler, '  Mono- 
grammisten,'  i,  292  ;  Schmidt,  in  Meyer's  '  Allgemeines 
Kiiiistlerlexikon,'  i,  253 ;  Weigel,  '  Holz-chnitte  beriihmter 
Meister,'  Nos.  24 and  43  ;  Hirth-Muther,  '  Meister-Holzschnitte,' 
No.  96;  Geisberg,  'Die  Miinsterischen  VViedertaiifer  und 
Aldegrever,'  1907,  pp.  43-51 ;  Pauli,  article  on  Aldegrever  in 
Becker  and  Thieme's  '  Allgemeines  Lexikon  der  bildenden 
Kiinstler,  vol.  i,  p.  243. 


fleeing  from  Potiphar's  wife,  and  Joseph  accused 
by  Potiphar's  wife.  The  suggestion  is  confirmed 
by  two  new  woodcuts  of  the  year  1532,  dealing 
with  the  life  of  Joseph,  which  have  come  to  light 
since  Dr.  Geisberg's  book  was  published.  The 
first  of  these  has  recently  been  described  by  Dr. 
Pauli  in  his  article  on  Aldegrever  in  the  new 
'  Kiinstlerlexikon.'  The  only  impression  known, 
signed  and  dated  1532,  is  in  the  Kunsthalle  at 
Bremen.  I  am  indebted  to  the  director,  Dr.  Pauli, 
for  permission  to  reproduce  it  here.  The  woodcut 
measures  140  by  94  mm.,  and  represents  Joseph 
fleeing  from  the  temptation  of  Potiphar's  wife. 
The  dimensions  show  that  it  belongs  to  the 
same  set  as  the  woodcut  at  Coburg  (B.  1). 
That  is  not  the  case  with  the  subject,  hitherto  un- 
described,  in  Lord  Pembroke's  collection,  which 
measures  in  its  slightly  mutilated  condition  169  by 
125  mm.,  or  6f  by  4I  inches.  It  is  thus  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  other  two,  with  which  it 
is  notwithstanding  intimately  related  both  in  date 
and  subject.  Aldegrever  seems  to  have  projected 
in  this  year  a  series  of  paints  on  the  life  of  Joseph, 
without  coming  to  any  definite  conclusion  as 
to  the  number  of  subjects  to  be  depicted,  the 
medium  (wood  or  copper)  to  be  adopted,  or  even 
the  size  of  the  series  that  he  actually  commenced 
on  wood. 

The  interpretation  of  the  print  at  Wilton 
presents  a  littls  difficulty.  The  sun  and  moon 
and  the  eleven  stars  and  the  smaller  sheaves 
of  corn  bowing  down  to  a  larger  sheaf  in  the 
midst  of  them  refer  obviously  to  Joseph's  two 
dreams,  described  in  Gen,  xxxvii.  7  and  9. 
They  are  represented  in  a  similar  manner  in 
the  contemporary  engraving,  B.  18,  but  there 
Joseph  himself  is  standing,  telling  his  dreams, 
while  he  is  also  represented  a  second  time  in  the 
background,  asleep  in  bed  and  dreaming.  He  is, 
of  course,  a  beardless  youth.  Who,  then,  is  this 
bearded  and  turbaned  elder,  of  portly  form  and 
lethargic  habit,  who,  in  the  woodcut  at  Wilton, 
sits  nodding  at  a  table,  with  jug  and  glass  beside 
him  ?  It  can  only  be  Jacob,  meditating  on  the 
two  dreams  (Gen.  x.xxvii.  11,  '  His  father  observed 
the  saying ';  in  the  Vulgate,  '  Pater  vero  rem  tacitus 
considerabat').  Pharaoh's  butler,  of  whom  one 
would  otherwise  be  tempted  to  think,  is  excluded 
by  the  subject  of  the  dreams. 

The  monogram  will  be  observed  on  the  shaded 
side  of  the  bench  on  which  Jacob  sits.  His 
attire,  the  German  stove  in  the  corner  of  the  room, 
the  washing  apparatus,  towel  and  brush,  the 
coffered  ceiling  and  the  column  with  a  skull  in 
antique  taste  upon  its  base  are  all  drawn  and  cut 
with  admirable  firmness  and  sense  of  texture. 
The  impression,  though  damaged,  has  been  origin- 
ally a  fine  one,  sharp  and  early. 

The  Bremen  woodcut  has  the  advantage  in  the 
matter  of  good  preservation. 

Campbell  Dodgson. 


219 


May  4,  1812. 


June  30,  1812. 
Aug.  3,  181 2. 


3  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  blue  and 
gold       .         .         .  ;£io5     o     o 
Do.  Dejeune  painted  in  figures 

£ll>  10     o 
Do.  Dejeune  painted  in  birds 

^63     o     o 

2  SSve  Porcelaine  Vases  green  and 

gold  fluted     .         .     ^£78  IS     o 

2  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  blue  and 

gold  ground  with  heads 

^157   ID     o 
2  do.  less  Vases  gilt  patras 

;£l26        o        o 

I  do.  larger  Vases  figures  Vernet 

;£l26         o         o 

The  last  item  might  be  presumed  to  mean  that 
Vernet  was  the  painter  of  the  figures,  though  in  a 
later  bill  two  vases  are  described  as  '  painted  after 
Vernet.' 


Djc.26,  1812. 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

THE   PRICES    PAID    FOR    THE    SfeVRES 
PORCELAIN   AT   WINDSOR    CASTLE 

The   gross  extravagances,    as    they    were    then  Aug.  19, 1812. 

deemed,    of   George    IV,    and    the    unpopularity  „     ,     „     „ 

which  ensued,  are  well  known.    Those  who  live  Sept.  28,  1812. 

now  and  who  cherish  a  love  for  and  appre- 
elation  of  art  are  profoundly  grateful  for  that  Oct.  24,  1812. 
part  of  the  Prince  Regent's  extravagance  which 
resulted  in  the  acquisition  of  many  of  the  artistic 
treasures  at  Windsor  Castle  at  what  are  now  ridi- 
culously low  figures.  It  has  been  my  good  fortune 
to  find  at  the  Public  Record  Office  the  original 
bills  for  many  of  the  objects  acquired  by 
George  IV,  and  these  include  a  number  of  bills 
for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  royal  collection 
of  Sevres  porcelain.  Those  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  possess  the  sumptuous  catalogue  com- 
piled by  Mr.  Laking  will  doubtless  be  glad  to 
know  the  prices  paid  for  many  of  the  specimens. 
The  purchases  of  the  Prince  Regent  would  seem 
to  have  spread  over  about  five  years— between 
7th  May,  1 810,  and  loth  October,  1815.  One 
Robert  Fogg,  of  Warwick  Street,  appears  to  have 
supplied  the  bulk  of  the  porcelain.  The  earliest 
bill  is  for  a  'fine  Seve  porcelaine  Desert  Service  5  July,  1813. 

as  pr.  statement  deliver'd  to  His  Royal  Highness 
the  Prince  Regent  May  7th,  1810,  ;£526  15s.  4d.' 
This  service,  though  ordered  on  that  date  in  18 10, 
was  not  delivered  for  more  than  two  years  later— 
namely,  on  30th  June,  1812.     It  probably  refers  10  Oct.,  1813. 

to  No.  343  in  the  catalogue,  and  the  fact  that  it 
should  not  have  been  ready  for  that  length  of  time 
perhaps  throws  some  light  on  Mr.  Laking's  remark 
on  page  186  that  'it  is  even  possible  that  the 
ser\'ice  itself  was  not  made  at  the  Sevres,  but  at 
some  other  French  factory.'  The  details  given  in 
the  bills  are  so  meagre  that  identification  is  im-  5  July,  18 14. 

possible  in  most  instances.  The  next  item  is  for 
'  2  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  blue  ground  Lapis 
Lazule,  bird  handles,  ;£i26.'  One  of  these  is 
probably  the  vase  on  plate  43. 


o 

of 

o 

o 


2  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  larger 
purple  ground       .  ;£3i5     o     o 

66  Seve  Porcelaine  Plates  2  paterns 
at  31S.  6d.      .         .  ;£i03  19     o 

2  Seve  Vases,  Arabesque  finely 
mounted        .        .  ;£i57  10     o 

A  fine  Seve  Vase  blue  ground  with 
Medallion  Louis  XV  ^£63     o     o 
Do.  do.  green  ground    ;£63     o 
Do.  green   ground    Medallion 
flowers  with  handles  ^£63     o 
Do.  with  a  Cover      .     -£52   10 
Do.  blue  ground  painted  Cupids 
with  handles  goats'  heads 

i^l     5     o 
Do.  white  ground  gold  and  birds 

£^^     o     o 

3  fine  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  blue 
ground  painted  in  figures 

^241  10  o 
A  Sfeve  Porcelaine  Dauphin  Cup 

and  Saucer  .  .  £\o  10  o 
A  do.  Cup  and  Saucer  painted  in 

flowers  red  ground  £^  8  o 
Three  fine  Sdve  Porcelaine  Vases 

green  ground  painted  in  Figures 

and  Cupids  .  .  ^Z^']  10  o 
One  larger  do.  painted  in  figures 

Three  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  fine 
blue  ground  and  painted  in 
Mythological  subjects 

^346  10     o 

A  pair  of  do.  mounted  in  Ormolu 
and  painted  in  birds 

^"126     o    o 

A  Seve  Porcelain  Basen  with 
cover  and  plate  fine  blue  and 
gold  ground,  Vernet  ^£36  15     o 

3  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  fine  blue 
and  gold  ground  painted  Medal- 
ions  Figures  .  £i'i'})  10     o 

2  do.  painted  after  Vernet 

;4"'57  10    o 
I  do.  larger  Cupids  after  Boucher 
^102     7     6 
A  Cup  and  Saucer  fine  blue  ground, 
enamelled  birds  and  rubies 

^31  10    o 
Do.    fine    blue    and    gold,   after 

Vernet  .  .  •  ^n 
Do.  do.  garland  flowers  £(> 
Do.  do.  roses  .  .  £<^ 
Do.  sky  blue  cupids  .  £9 
Do.  Less  white  ground  flowers 

;C3  3  o 
A  Basen  with  cover  and  plate  fine 

blue  and  gold,  Vernet  ;^3 1  10  o 
A  Basen  and  Ewre  sky  blue  ground 

find  flowers    .         .     ;r23  12     6 


6 
6 
9 
9 


22Q 


The  Sevres  Vorcelain  at  Windsor  Castle 


A  Sugar  Cup  with  cover  do. 

£7  17     6 
10  Oct.,  1 814.     A    Seves    Porcelaine    Basen    and 
Ewre  painted  in  flowers 

£5     5     o 
Do.   do.   sky    blue    ground    and 

flowers  .         .         .     ^25     4     o 

Do.   Cup   and     Saucer    sky   blue 

ground  ornamented  with  pearls 

£4-     o     o 

Do.   Cup   and   Saucer   Chocolate 

ground  ornamented  with  pearls 

£-\^     o     o 

Do.  Egg  shape  mounted  Cup  fine 

blue  ground   ornamented  with 

pearls     .         .         .     £2i(>  15     o 

5  April,  18 1 5.     72     Seve     Porcelaine    Plates,    at 

3 IS.  6d.  each. 

33  do.  at  3 IS.  6d.  each. 

17  do.  Compoteers,  at  31s.  6d.  each. 

2  do.  Tureens .         .       ^^12   12     o 

3  fine  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases 

-^300     6     o 

10  Oct.,  1815.     2  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  fine  blue 

ground  painted  Figures  Vernet 

£34(>  10     o 

2  Seve  Porcelaine  Vases  Etruscan 

shape  do.       .         .  ;£2io     o     o 

2  do.  Strolling  Players  _^i89     o     o 

2  do.    black    and    gold    ground 
imitation  of  Japan    £iS7  ^o     ° 

3  do.  fine   blue   ground   painted 
Soldiers.         .         .  ;£252     o     o 

4  do.  Flower  Pots  oval  form  sky 
blue  and  figures     .  ;^'i47     o     o 

I  do.  Coffee  Pot  fine  blue  ground 
painted  figures       ,     ^42     o     o 
I  do.  Cup  and  Saucer  fine  blue 
ground  enamelled  in  pearls 

i.42     o     o 

I     do.    Vase     and    Cover    finely 

mounted     in     ormolu    painted 

fruits  and  flowers  .     £63     o     o 

There  is  another  bill,  dated  the  quarter  ending 

5th  January,  1815,  with  the  name,  F.  Benois,  but 

without  an  address.     Can  this  be  the  M.  Benoit 

referred  to  by  Mr.  Laking  as  a  confidential  French 

servant,  and    formerly  pdtissicr  to    His    Majesty, 

upon  whose  knowledge  and  guidance  George  IV 

accumulated  'valuable   and  authentic   specimens 

of   almost   contemporary   art '  ?     This   bill    is   as 

follows  : — 

A  large  Seve  Porcelaine  Vase  fine  blue   and 

gold  ground .4*^5 

A  large  Bowl ^5° 

A  vase  oval  form  blue  ground  richly  mounted 

in  Bronze  ....••  i^9° 

A  Cup  and  Saucer  fine  green  ground  orna- 
mented in  pearls £3° 


2  oval  Flower  vases  sky  blue  ground  .  .  ;^28 
2  round        do.        painted  birds  and  flowers 

mounted  in  Bronze ^45 

A  large  Cup  with  cover  blue  ground  .  '  £^S 
A  small  Vase  green  ground  mounted  in  Bronze  ^^'20 
A  Basen  painted  in  Birds  sky  blue  .         .    ^7 

Messrs.  Colnaghi  and  Co.,  according  to  their 
bill  of  5th  January,  1814,  supplied  the  Prince 
Regent  with  '  a  pair  highly  gilt  Candlesticks  of  the 
old  Seve  Porcelaine  Seavce,  £2^.' 

In  a  future  note  I  hope  to  publish  some  details 
of  the  prices  paid  for  other  works  of  art  at 
Windsor  Castle  :  pictures,  furniture,  plate  and 
porcelain. 

E.  Alfred  Jones. 

THE  DEMOLITION  OF  THE  WAREHOUSE 
OF  THE  PERSIANS  IN  VENICE 

A  LINK  of  some  interest  with  the  past  has  just  been 
swept  away  in  Venice  by  the  demolition  of  the 
Warehouse  of  the  Persians  (the  '  Fondaco  dei' 
Persiani')  which  stood  between  Rialto  and  San 
Gian  Crisostomo.  Here  at  the  left-hand  corner 
of  the  Ponte  dell'  Olio  a  stone  passage  led  into  a 
wooden-lined,  square  building,  where  a  succession 
of  floors  looked  out  from  open  verandahs  into  a 
dark  court,  and  a  wooden  staircase  led  in  turn  to 
each  of  these  many  floors.  It  was  in  sooth  a 
shut-in,  gloomy  spot,  and  yet  the  heavy  air  and 
dim  light  seemed  in  keeping  with  the  Eastern 
associations  which  haunted  it,  while  it  required 
no  play  of  fancy  to  clothe  those  wooden  walls 
with  the  carpets  and  hangings  that  Persian  mer- 
chants brought  in  olden  times  to  Venice  to  sell,  or 
to  exchange  for  wares  that  were  chiefly  to  be 
found  in  Western  markets.  A  few  voices  were 
raised  to  protest  against  the  destruction  of  the 
'  Fondaco,'  but  the  greater  part  of  the  Town 
Council  pleaded  for  its  removal  on  the  grounds 
of  hygiene  and  safety,  and  their  plea  has  prevailed. 
They  urged  that  the  woodwork  of  the  warehouse 
was  in  so  rotten  a  condition  that  unless  it  were 
pulled  down  it  would  collapse  of  itself  and  doubt- 
less cause  much  damage  ;  they  also  represented 
that  in  case  of  fire  this  old  wooden  building  would 
prove  a  source  of  untold  danger  to  the  whole 
neighbourhood  ;  and  that  it  possessed  neither 
beauty  nor  historical  associations  sufficient  to 
warrant  its  preservation.  So  a  clean  sweep  has 
been  made,  from  the  '  Calle  of  San  Gian  Crisos- 
tomo '  right  away  to  the  Grand  Canal,  and  a  '  fine 
modern  '  house  is  to  replace  the  old  wooden  ware- 
house where  in  the  Cinquecento  Persian  mer- 
chants found  a  ready  market  for  their  goods,  and 
doubtless  drove  many  a  bargain  with  the  colour- 
loving,  gaily-clad  and,  withal,  astute  merchants  of 
Venice.  It  was  hoped  that  some  treasures  of  art 
might  have  been  found  in  the  building,  but  the 
only  thing  that  has  come  to  light  is  a  very  fine 

221 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 

well-head  of  Istrian  stone,  in  excellent  preservation, 
which  will  be  set  up  in  the  courtyard  of  the  new 
house  about  to  be  built.  Alethea  Wiel. 

A   SIDELIGHT  ON   DONATELLO'S 

ANNUNCIATION 
There  are  certain  questions  in  art  of  which  it  is 
safe  to  predict  that  they  will  not  find  their  rest  till 
some  one  finds  their  document.  One  such  question 
is  that  of  the  date  of  Donatello's  Annunciation  in 
the  right  aisle  of  Sta  Croce  in  Florence.  Albertini, 
the  first  to  mention  it,  assigns  no  date.  Vasari, 
who  claims  for  it  that  it  first  brought  fame  to 
Donatello,  describes  it  as  a  work  of  his  youth. 
Some  writers,  with  Cavalucci,  have  gone  so  far  as 
to  place  it  in  1406,  when  Donatello  was  twenty 
years  old.  Schmarsow,  while  combating  this 
theory,  yet  gave  to  the  work  a  date  nearer  to  that 
of  the  Or  San  Michele  statues ;  Burckhardt  in 
'Cicerone'  names  1430 — I'.f.,  before  the  second  visit 
to  I  Rome,  '  at  latest.'  Von  Tschudi,  Schottmuller, 
Reymond,  C.  Perkin  (who  estimates  it  slightly), 
and  many  others  place  it  after,  and  at  varying  dis- 
tances from,  the  return  from  the  second  Roman 
visit  in  1433.  Where  document  fails  us,  any  light 
that  may  come  to  us  from  secondary  sources 
becomes  of  value.  In  the  work  of  Bernardo 
Rossellino  I  believe  that  we  may  find  evidence 
which  will  at  any  rate  suggest  limits  within  which 
Donatello's  Annunciation  must  fall,  without 
claiming  for  it  more  than  that.  In  the  Misericordia 
Church  (Santa Maria  dei  Scolopi)  at  Empoli  in  1447 
Bernardo  completed  a  group  of  {\\q  Antiunciation. 
It  is  impossible  to  look  long  at  the  figure  of  the 
Madonna  without  becoming  aware  of  the  strong 
Donatellesque  inspiration  which  pervades  it. 
The  Santa  Croce  Madonna  at  once  rises  to  the 
mind.  In  the  latter  figure  the  movement,  quite 
new  in  the  treatment  of  that  subject,  is  arrested  at 
the  precise  moment  when  it  expresses  most  com- 
pletely a  condition  of  mental  emotion.  The 
Madonna  has  been  reading,  the  book  is  still  held 
open  in  her  hand.  She  has  risen  suddenly  at  the 
appearance  of  the  angel,  and  has  turned,  by 
impulse,  to  go — the  position  of  the  right  knee, 
already  bent  to  take  the  first  step,  is  to  tell  us  this  ; 
the  left  foot,  planted  firmly  on  the  ground,  has  not 
yet  been  moved.  With  her  right  hand  she  hastily 
plucks  her  mantle,  which  had  dropped  from  her 
shoulders  as  she  sat,  across  her  breast.  All  this 
expresses  the  first  emotion  produced  by  the 
message  of  the  angel.  The  lovely  pose  of  the 
head  turned  downwards  towards  the  angel,  and 
away  from  the  direction  in  which  her  step  was  to 
have  been  taken,  alone  tells  us  that  the  enthralling, 
mysterious  message  is  yet  holding  her  spellbound. 
Whether  we  put  the  Santa  Croce  group  amongst 
the  sculptor's  earliest  works  or  no,  we  can  find  no 
similar  treatment  of  the  theme  which  can  be  held 
to  have  preceded  it. 


Now,  if  we  turn  to  Bernardo's  Empoli  figure  of 
the  Madonna  (1447)  we  shall  find  the  same  treat- 
ment used,  though  in  a  less  expressive,  less  vital 
form.  The  previous  emotion  is  less  visibly 
declared,  the  present  absorption  in  the  words  of 
the  message  less  movingly  enforced.  But  the 
means  employed  and  the  result  obtained  are  still, 
to  a  great  extent,  similar  to  those  of  the  Santa 
Croce  group.  At  Empoli  Bernardo's  Madonna  has 
also  been  reading,  and  the  left  hand  presses  the 
opened  book  to  the  body  with  precisely  the  same 
action.  She  has  risen  from  her  seat  and  is  preparing 
to  move  to  her  left,  but  here  the  movement  is  not 
nearly  so  emphatic  as  that  of  the  Santa  Croce 
figure.  Bernardo's  Madonna  stands  more  erect 
and  in  a  quieter  attitude,  and  the  fall  of  the 
drapery  naturally  expresses  this  fact  in  the  less 
involved  cast  of  the  folds.  Her  right  hand  does 
not  grasp  the  mantle,  but  is  raised  as  if  for  a 
moment  to  deprecate  the  message,  her  head  being 
turned  at  the  same  time,  as  in  Donatello's  figure, 
sideways  and  downwards  to  the  kneeling  angel. 
The  motive  is  one  and  the  same.  To  visit  the  two 
groups  on  the  same  day  is  to  be  convinced  upon  the 
point.  It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  the  date  of  the 
Empoli  group  is  1447,  and  that  in  1444-5  Bernardo 
had  been  engaged  on  the  tomb  of  Leonardo 
Bruni,  which  is  seen  to-day  close  by  the  Cavalcanti 
group  in  Santa  Croce,  and  must  during  the  setting- 
up  of  that  monument  have  had  daily  opportunity 
for  loving  study  of  Donato's  work — not  that  we 
need  dwell  on  such  an  opportunity,  since  every 
Florentine  artist  had  it  before  his  eyes  whenever 
he  chose  to  enter  the  church.  But  the  Empoli 
Madonna,  completed  in  the  years  immediately 
following  on  the  Bruni  tomb,  may  perhaps  be  the 
outcome  of  strongly  renewed  impressions. 

Accepting  the  view — which  I  hold  to  be  indisput- 
able— that  the  Empoli  Madonna  derives  from  the 
Donato  group,  we  get  the  latest  limit  to  the  possible 
date  of  the  latter  at  1447.  But  the  limitation  at  that 
end  is  the  less  valuable  of  the  two,  since  hardly  any 
writer  has  suggested  the  placing  of  it  at  a  later 
date  in  Donatello's  career.  What  would  be,  fail- 
ing a  definite  documentary  date,  more  valuable 
would  be  if  we  could  fix  the  early  limit.  Let  us 
see  if  in  the  work  of  the  same  Bernardo  Rossellino 
we  can  find,  at  any  rate,  a  strong  suggestion. 

In  the  inner  sacristy  of  the  Duomo  of  Arezzo  is 
a  terra-cotta  altarpiece  with  the  Annunciation, 
and  a  predella  beneath  it.  It  bears  the  date 
MCCCCXXXIII  and  was  made  by  Bernardo  for 
Mariotto  d'Angelo,  canon  of  the  cathedral.  Ber- 
nardo was  born  at  Settignano  in  1409,  and  this 
work  is  the  first  which  can  be  traced  to  his  hand, 
the  Misericordia  lunette  following  by  contract  of 
March  27, 1434.  The  sacristy  tabernacle  is  a  very 
sweet  and  simple  work,  the  effort  of  an  unformed 
artist  with  a  strong  sense  of  beauty,  who  in  his  pre- 
sentation of  this  scene  looks  back  to  the  long  array 


222 


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Ill  K    I.AliY    1)1-     rirV.  KY    BKKXAKIKl 

IMSSELLIXO.    IN  THE  MISKL-M,  ARE/ZO 


DETAIL   FROM    THE    TABEKNACLE   BY    DUNATELLO 
IX   THE    SACRISTY   OF   S.    PETFR'S,   ROME 


A   SIDELIGHT    ON    DONATELLo'S   ANNUNCIATION 
PLATE    II 


T^onatello  s   '  Annunciation ' 


of  the  successors  of  Giotto  and  of  Andrea  Pisano 
and,  nearer  to  liis  own  day,  to  Luca  della  Robbia 
more  than  to  Donatello — speaking,  that  is,  merely 
of  his  rendering  of  this  Annnnciation.  One  sees 
at  once  that  this  is  the  work  of  a  young  modeller 
who  had  derived  no  inspiration  from  the  Cavalcanti 
group  :  I  argue  that  he  had  never  seen  it.  Certainly 
if  it  already  in  1433  had  existed  in  Santa  Croce, 
Bernardo  must  have  seen  it  very  often.  The 
Madonna  in  the  Arezzo  Duomo  is  seated,  and 
bends  her  head  humbly  forward,  her  hand  upon 
her  heart,  to  receive  the  message.  It  is  a  vision  of 
humility,  innocence,  purity.  But  whereas  in  the 
Donatello  Annunciation  there  is  something  of 
strength — out  of  the  strong  there  has  come  forth 
sweetness — here  in  Bernardo's  early  conception 
strength  has  not  yet  been  added  to  sweetness. 

There  is  no  attempt  to  express  a  contrast  of 
emotions — or,  indeed,  strong  emotion  of  any  kind. 
The  conviction  comes  to  one  as  one  looks  at  it 
that  Madonna  of  Santa  Croce  had  not  yet  come 
within  the  range  of  Bernardo's  vision  in  the  year 
1433.  If  this  conviction  be  warranted,  we  get 
that  year  as  our  early  limit.  We  must  not  claim 
any  more  from  the  argument. 

It  was  in  that  year  that  Donatello  returned  to 
Florence  from  Rome,  where  he  had  lately  finished 
the  little  tabernacle  in  S.  Peter's,  which  is  now  in 
the  sacristy.  The  connexion  between  this  work 
and    the    Santa    Croce   Annunciation   has   been 


recognized  by  several  writers,  though  some  have 
given  the  precedence  in  point  of  time  to  the  latter, 
placing  it  before  the  second  visit  to  Rome.  In 
both  cases  Donatello's  desire  to  satisfy  his  colour- 
craving  by  the  use  of  special  material  is  strongly 
in  evidence.  In  the  Roman  tabernacle  a  soft 
grey  marble  has  been  introduced  in  parts,  and 
originally  it  was  enriched  with  gilding.  The 
experiment  is  carried  further  in  the  Santa  Croce 
work  by  the  use  of  Macigno  stone  and  gilding, 
while  the  wooden  putti  above  gave  further  colour 
variation.  I  do  not  know  whether  attention  has 
ever  been  drawn  to  the  fact  that  in  the  decoration 
of  these  two  monuments  occurs  an  ornament 
which  in  this  shape  is  never  again  found  in 
Donatello's  work — I  mean  the  shallow,  saucer-like 
palmette  or  rosette  with  radiating  ribs,  set  at 
intervals  in  the  Roman,  close  together  in  the 
Florentine  example.  This  ornament  seems  to  have 
been  suggested  by  the  patera  so  often  found  in 
classical  work — as  for  example  in  the  Ara  Pacis 
relief,  and  in  the  temple  of  Vespasian.  To  myself 
the  Santa  Croce  Annnnciation  in  its  ornament 
suggests  work  carried  out  by  Donatello  while  his 
Roman  impressions  were  still  strong  upon  him — 
that  is  to  say,  within  a  year  or  two  of  1433 — a  date 
which,  of  course,  has  already  been  largely 
accepted,  though  I  do  not  know  if  the  points  set 
forth  in  the  early  portion  of  this  paper  have  been 
taken  into  consideration.       Gerald  S.  Davies. 


^  LETTER  TO  THE  EDITOR  d^ 


THE  PORTRAIT  OF  A  LADY  AS  THE 
MAGDALEN  IN  THE  NATIONAL 
GALLERY 

To  ilic  Editor  of  The  Burlixgtox  Magazine. 

Sir, — In  the  April  number  of  your  magazine.  Sir 
Charles  Hoiroyd  mentions  two  new  acquisitions 
by  the  National  Gallery,  one  of  which.  No.  2163, 
is  the  portrait  of  a  lady  as  a  Magdalen  which  he 
attributes  to  Mabuse. 

I  cannot  agree  with  Sir  Charles  in  attributing 
this  picture  to  Mabuse,  owing  to  the  entire  absence 
of  the  tender  soft  greenish  violet  shades  in  the 
face  and  hands  which  are  a  peculiar  characteristic 
of  this  master. 


I  venture  to  express  my  opinion  that  the  painting 
in  question  is  the  work  of  Jan  van  Scorel,  though 
the  influence  of  Mabuse  is  undeniably  present  m 
the  picture. 

The  clear  white  light  on  the  face  with  the 
brownish  shades,  and  the  fat  hands  with  the 
pronounced  bony  finger-joints,  so  characteristic  of 
Scorel  at  his  best  period,  are  very  noticeable  m 
this  picture. 

Yours  faithfully, 


J.  O.  Kronig. 


The  Hague, 

12th  June,  1908. 


^  ART  BOOKS  OF  THE  MONTH  r*^ 


Drawings  by  Goya  in  the  Prado  at  Madrid. 

Part  I, '  Les  Caprices.'    Rome  :  D.  Anderson. 

1908. 
There  are  few  artists  who  are  so  steadily  advanc- 
ing in  the  estimation  of  artists,  art  critics  and  art 
historians,  each  in  their  own  respective  line,  as 
the  great  Spanish  painter  and  draughtsman, 
Francisco  Goya  y  Lucientes.  To  artists  Goya 
can  never  fail  to  be  interesting  for  his  technical 


and  individual  skill  as  a  painter,  and  especially  as 
a  painter-etcher.  To  critics  he  is  interesting  as  a 
study  of  temperament,  and  as  an  exponent  of 
direct  nationality  in  art.  To  historians  Goya  is 
interesting  from  the  unique  place  which  he  holds 
not  only  in  the  history  of  Spanish  art  but  of  art 
in  general,  and  from  his  being  the  connecluig 
link  with  the  bygone  art  of  Velazquez  and  that  of 
the  modern  French  school  and  of  such    artists  as 

227 


Art  Books  of  the  Month 

Sorolla  y  Bastida  and  Zuloaga  in  modern  Spain. 
To  understand  Goya,  however,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  some  knowledge  of  Spain  and  the  Spanish 
character,  a  knowledge  which  it  is  downright 
impossible  to  acquire  outside  Spain  itself.  It  is 
also  necessary  to  have  some  slight  acquaintance 
with  the  history  of  Spain  during  Goya's  lifetime, 
the  troubled  reign  of  Charles  IV,  the  escapades  of 
Queen  Marie  Luisa,  the  ascendancy  of  Godoy, 
Prince  of  the  Peace,  the  Napoleonic  invasion,  and 
the  crushing  of  Spain  beneath  the  conqueror's  heel 
leading  to  the  tragedy  of  the  Dos  de  Mayo  (2nd  May, 
1 808)."  The  cruel,  almost  savage  experience  of  these 
disastrous  years  inspired  Goya  to  produce  two  of  the 
greatest  series  of  etchings  that  any  artist's  mind  ever 
gave  birth  to, '  Les  Caprices '  and  '  Les  Desastres  de 
la  Guerre.'  In  these  etchings  humour,  satire,  bitter 
rancour,  coarseness,  and  yet  in  some  cases  the 
pathos  of  the  artist's  mind,  are  poured  forth  in 
profusion.  The  meaning  of  the  '  Caprices '  is  at 
this  day  very  obscure,  as  so  many  subjects  refer  to 
local  matters  of  ephemeral  interest.  They  are, 
perhaps,  more  intelligible  in  the  drawings  preserved 
at  the  Prado  in  Madrid,  and  now  reproduced  in 
facsimile  by  Signor  D.  Anderson  at  Rome.  With 
the  drawings  is  preserved  a  manuscript  statement 
by  Goya  as  to  the  subjects,  but  the  explanations 
are  obviously  so  worded  as  to  evade  any  charge  of 
personal  or  political  libel  or  of  blasphemy.  The 
subjects  of  the  'Caprices'  have  been  elucidated 
by  M.  Paul  Lefort  in  the  'Gazette  des  Beaux  Arts' 
{1867),  vol.  xxii,  p.  194,  etc.,  and  it  is  on  M.  Lefort's 
work  that  the  text  of  the  present  publication  is 
based.  Where  the  original  drawing  from  the 
etching  is  missing  at  the  Prado,  the  gap  has  been 
filled  by  a  facsimile  of  the  etching  itself. 

The  reproductions  by  Signor  Anderson  are  in 
every  way  worthy  of  his  high  repute  as  a  photo- 
grapher. Students  of  art  cannot  fail  to  be  grateful 
to  him  for  bringing  this  important  series  within 
their  reach,  and  will  eagerly  await  a  second  set  to 
include  '  Les  Desastres  de  la  Guerre.'  L.  C. 

Die  Niederlandische  Holzschnitt-Passion 
Delbecq-Schreiber.  Von  Dr.  W.  Molsdorf. 
Strassburg  :  Heitz,  1908.  35  marks. 
This  is  a  recent  addition  to  the  valuable  series 
of  reproductions  of  fifteenth-century  woodcuts, 
chiefly  specimens  preserved  in  the  smaller  public 
collections  of  Germany  and  Switzerland,  which 
owes  its  existence  to  the  initiative  of  Herr  Paul 
Heitz.  Dr.  Molsdorf  of  Breslau  has  written  a 
succinct  and  useful  introduction  to  a  rather 
remarkable  series  of  twenty  Passion  woodcuts 
which  belonged,  early  in  the  last  century,  to 
Van  de  Velde  of  Louvain,  then  to  the  famous 
collector  Delbecq  of  Ghent  (1771-1840),  and 
are  now  the  property  of  Professor  W.  L. 
Schreiber  of  Potsdam.  Alike  from  internal  evi- 
dence and  from  what   is  known   of    the   manu- 

228 


script  in  which  they  were  formerly  inserted,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are  of  Flemish  origin, 
and  Dr.  Molsdorf  dates  them  with  great  probability 
about  1480-90.  In  two  of  them  certain  figures  are 
copied  from  engravings  by  Schongauer  and  the 
master  I  A  M  of  Zwolle,  and  there  are  several 
cases  of  borrowing  from  the  blockbook,  '  Speculum 
humanae  salvationis.'  The  author  of  the  Passion 
was  no  first-rate  artist,  but  yet  above  the  average. 
The  colouring  of  the  originals  is  reproduced,  as  is 
the  case  throughout  this  series,  by  hand.  The 
use  of  modern  pigments  inevitably  gives  a  modern 
appearance  to  the  facsimile,  and  defeats  the  pro- 
posed object,  while  it  adds  largely  to  the  expense. 
Many  serious  students  would  prefer  a  collotype 
reproduction  without  any  hand-work,  until  colour- 
printing  processes  are  so  far  developed  as  to  be 
applied  to  this  class  of  subject  without  prohibitive 
expense.  C.  D. 

ViERZIG  METALLSCHNITTE  DES  XV  JaHRHUNDERTS 

Aus  MiiNCHE.\ER  Privatbesitz.   Herausgege- 

ben  von Georg  Leidinger.     Strassburg:  Heitz. 

1908.      (Studien    zur   Deutschen     Kunstges- 

chichte,  Heft  95.)  8  marks. 
Dr.  Leidinger,  who  is  making  known  in  other 
publications  of  the  same  Strassburg  firm  the  rich 
stores  of  fifteenth-century  cuts  on  wood  and  metal 
in  the  Munich  library,  reproduces  here  a  series  of 
forty  small  dotted  prints  of  New  Testament  sub- 
jects lately  in  private  ownership  at  Munich,  and 
now  in  the  market.  Some  of  them  exist  in  the 
Paris  collection,  and  have  been  published  by 
Bouchot,  while  others  are  represented  in  the 
public  collections  at  Munich  ;  but  twenty-six  of 
the  forty  are  undescribed,  and  for  that  reason 
alone  this  complete  publication,  accompanied  by 
a  scientific  commentary,  is  welcome  to  students, 
though  the  artistic  merit  of  the  series  is  not  great. 
Several  of  the  subjects  are  unusual,  and  possess, 
for  that  reason,  a  special  iconographical  interest. 
The  reproductions  in  half-tone  are  quite  adequate 
for  purposes  of  study,  and  preferable  to  hand- 
coloured  '  facsimiles,'  which  always  excite  sus- 
picion. C.  D. 

MiESTERWERKER  DES  StADTISCHEX  MUSEUMS 
DES  BiLDENDEN  KUNSTE  ZU  LEIPZIG.  Von 
Theodor  Schreiber.  Munich  :  F.  Bruckmann. 
In  the  introduction  to  this  handsome  volume 
Dr.  Schreiber  traces  the  gradual  growth  of  the 
Leipzig  Gallery  from  its  foundation  in  1837.  Then 
follows  a  detailed  account  of  the  eighty-four  works 
selected  for  illustration,  in  collotype,  on  a  scale 
which  admits  of  the  details  being  properly  studied, 
the  frontispiece,  after  Max  Klinger's  The  Blm  Hour, 
being  reinforced  with  colour.  Bocklin,  Klinger, 
Thoma,  Lenbachand  Meunier  among  the  moderns 
are  specially  well  represented,  and  there  are  some 
interesting  works  by  various  Old  Masters  ;  but  the 


gap  between  the  old  art  and  the  new  is  filled  by 
German  painters  of  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  in  whom  for  the  most  part  the  world  has 
ceased  to  take  an  interest.  The  works  of  the  earlier 
painters  are  preceded,  not  unjustly,  by  a  portrait 
of  Consul  Schletter,  whose  bequest  to  Leipzig  in 
the  fifties  first  made  the  collection  a  thing  of  some 
importance.  Of  the  two  works  connected  with 
Van  Eyck,  the  second,  The  Love  Charm,  though 
not  from  the  master's  hand,  is  in  some  respects 
the  more  interesting,  since  it  reflects  a  side  of  the 
painter's  work — the  painting  of  nude  figures— of 
which  a  curious  echo  was  discovered  in  the  picture 
by  Haecht  exhibited  last  year  at  Burlington  House. 
Three  Cranachs,  of  which  the  Sleeping  Nymph  is 
the  most  attractive,  and  an  imposing  Crucifixion 
by  Georg  Lemburger,  with  a  curious  inscription, 
lead  the  way  to  examples  attributed  to  the  school 
of  Bastiano  Mainardi  and  to  Bissolo,  which  are 
the  sole  representatives  of  the  art  of  Renaissance 
Italy.  The  Dutch  masters  are  more  important, 
Rembrandt,  Steen,  Van  Ostade,  Wouvermans  and 
several  others  being  illustrated  by  more  or  less 
characteristic  works.  The  St.  Jerome  of  the 
Burgos  painter,  Mateo  de  Cerezo,  is  an  excellent 
example  of  an  artist  whose  works  occur  occa- 
sionally in  continental  galleries,  but  who  is  not, 
we  believe,  represented  in  any  English  collection. 

Papers    of    the    Society    of    Painters    in 
Tempera,      1901-1907.     Edited    by    Chris- 
tiana J.  Herringham,   London  :   Printed  for 
private  circulation. 
The  revival  of  the  practice  of  tempera  painting 
has  an  interest  for  the  critical  public  as  well  as  for 
working  artists,  in  that  the  method  is  responsible 
for  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful  pictures   in   the   world,   and    those    pictures 
cannot  be  satisfactorily   studied   except  by  those 
who    have  some  knowledge  of   the  processes  by 
which  they  were  produced. 

The  treatise  of  Cennini  has  been  and  will  con- 
tinue to  be  our  chief  guide  on  the  subject,  but  his 
statements  are  often  obscure,  and  it  is  well  to  have 
them  supplemented  by  the  experience  of  living 
artists,  the  more  so  because  it  is  clear  that  the 
possibilities  of  tempera  are  by  no  means  exhausted. 
Altogether  this  book,  which,  by  the  way,  is  admir- 
ably printed,  is  a  most  useful  and  practical  contri- 
bution to  technical  literature,  the  more  so  because 
its  scope  includes  fresco  painting  as  well  as 
tempera. 

MODERNE  KULTUR.  Vol.  II.  By  Dr.  E.  Heyck 
and  others.  Deutsche  Verlags-Anstalt,  Stutt- 
gart. 15  marks. 
The  first  volume  of  this  handsome  work  was  re- 
viewed in  the  August  number  of  The  Burlington 
Magazine.  The  second  and  final  volume  now 
before  us  completely  fulfils  all  our  expectations  of 


Art  "Books  of  the  Month 

this  'Manual  of  Culture  and  Good  Taste.'  The 
main  theme  is  '  Personality  and  its  Circle,'  and 
the  first  section,  which  bears  the  same  head- 
ing, is  by  Marie  Diers,  the  well-known  German 
novelist,  who  here  discourses  on  '  Love  and 
Marriage,'  '  Woman  and  the  Woman  Question,' 
The  Relation  to  the  Child,'  etc.  Other  contribu- 
tions to  this  volume  are  :  '  Society,'  '  Culture  in 
Personal  Appearance,'  'The  Art  of  Eating'  (W. 
Fred),  'Books'  (Hermann  Hesse),  'The  Theatre' 
(Karl  Scheffler),  and,  last  but  not  least,  'The  Wis- 
dom of  Drinking '  and  '  The  Art  of  Travelling ' 
by  the  editor.  Dr.  Ed.  Heyck,  himself — the  aim  of 
the  entire  work  being  to  show  that  culture,  to  be 
true  and  lasting,  must  be  every-one's  affair.  The 
ninety-five  illustrations,  which  range  from  Botti- 
celli's Spring  and  Mr.  Charles  Shannon's  The  Toilet 
to  examples  of  Mr.  Von  Gloden's  Sicilian  photo- 
graphs, are  well  reproduced  and  add  considerably 
to  the  attractions  of  the  book. 

Ballads  and  Hymns  of  Love.  Edited  by  Frank 
Sidgwick  :  Illustrated  after  Byam  Shaw,  R.I. 
London  :  Chatto  and  Windus.  6s.  net. 
This  selection  from  Percy's  '  Reliques '  makes 
pleasant  reading,  and  the  pictures  will  be  familiar 
to  those  who  saw  Messrs.  Dowdeswell's  recent  ex- 
hibition of  Mr.  Byam  Shaw's  drawings.  Spirited, 
clever  and  gay  as  the  originals  were,  they  have 
suffered  less  by  this  process  of  reproduction  in 
colour  than  good  drawings  are  apt  to  do.  Some 
indeed  may  actually  think  the  reproductions  in 
certain  cases  look  better  than  the  originals.  Mr, 
Byam  Shaw  has  a  taste  for  opposition  of  sharp 
colours  which  even  on  the  modest  scale  and  in  the 
decorative  treatment  of  the  exhibited  drawings 
might  not  be  every  one's  taste.  The  reduction  in 
scale  which  the  book  necessitates  is  thus  all  in  his 
favour,  and  even  those  who  found  the  originals  too 
bright  will  hardly  be  able  to  deny  that  the  repro- 
ductions are  among  the  most  fresh,  vigorous  and 
successful  illustrations  that  the  modern  colour 
process  has  achieved. 

Of  the  nine  pictures,  that  illustrating  '  The 
Gaberlunzie  Man '  was  perhaps  the  most  striking, 
and  it  loses  none  of  its  fire  and  vitality  in  the  book. 
Altogether  Mr.  Shaw  has  never  shown  to  better 
advantage,  and  the  book,  as  we  have  said,  is  full 
of  good  things  to  read. 

The  Red  Lily.  By  Anatole  France.  Translated 
by  Winifred  Stephens.  London  :  Lane.  6s. 
The  making  of  an  edition  of  the  works  of  Anatole 
France  in  English  is  a  delicate  problem,  and  Mr, 
Frederic  Chapman,  who  is  responsible  for  the 
literary  standard  of  the  present  series,  had  no  light 
task  before  him.  The  publisher  has  started  the 
undertaking  handsomely,  for  the  volume  is 
exceedingly  cheap  considering  the  excellence  and 
i^ttractiveness  of  its  printing  and  binding.  Whether 

229 


Art  Books  of  the  Month 

any  perfect  English  substitute  for  the  French  of 
a  master  stylist  can  ever  be  offered  is  another 
question,  and  one  which  falls  outside  our  imme- 
diate province.  The  translator  of  'The  Red  Lily' 
has  done  her  work  conscientiously,  yet  sentences 
such  as  '  But  him  whom  you  shall  love  .  .  . 
will  be  your  enemy'  (p.  179)  surely  called  for 
editorial  revision? 

Royal  Academy  Pictures  and  Sculpture,  1908. 

London  :  Cassell.  5s.  net. 
With  their  customary  promptness  Messrs.  Cassell 
have  issued  their  annual  souvenir  of  the  exhibition 
at  Burlington  House.  The  pictures  chosen  admir- 
ably represent  the  popular  side  of  the  exhibition, 
and  will  doubtless  appeal  to  many  visitors  who 
wish  to  revive  the  hasty  impression  gained  by  a 
single  visit.  We  note  that  sculpture  is  somewhat 
scantily  represented,  while  the  absence  of  any  works 
by  Mr.  Sargent  and  of  Sir  Hubert  von  Herkomer's 
large  portrait  group  is  perhaps  a  more  serious  defect. 
The  frontispiece  is  an  excellent  reproduction 
of  Mr.  Clausen's  large  picture.  The  Boy  and  the 
Man,  which  gains  considerably  in  effect  by  the 
great  reduction  in  scale. 

« 

We  have  received  from  the  publishers,  Messrs. 
A.  and  C.  Black,  the  edit  ion  dc  Itixe  of  the  pamphlet 
on  '  The  Edinburgh  Parthenon  of  the  Scottish 
National  Gallery,'  which  we  reviewed  in  June,  1907. 
A  very  handsome  volume,  illustrated  in  colour. 
•Bound  in  various  styles  or  enclosed  in  a  case, it  may 
be  obtained  of  Mr.  Bernard  Quaritch. 


Folklore  as  an  Historical  Science.  By 
George  Laurence  Gomme.  (The  Anti- 
quary's Books.)  Methuen  and  Co.  1908. 
7s.  6d.  net. 

This  book  '  supplies  a  long-felt  want ' — and  never 
was  a  hackneyed  phrase  more  inevitable.  Folk- 
lore, as  a  science,  has  scarcely  attained  its  first 
centenary  ;  the  very  word  is  only  some  sixty  years 
old.  Mr.  Gomme,  who  outlined  the  present  book 
in  articles  contributed  to  the  '  Folklore  Journal ' 
in  1885,  is  doubtless  by  no  means  the  only  folk- 
lorist  who  '^has  seen  the  necessity  for  guidance  in 
correlating'  this,  the  youngest  of  the  sciences  (ex- 
cept perhaps  recent  developments  of  psychology), 


with  other  branches  of  research.  '  It  is  not,'  he 
says, '  because  it  consists  of  traditions,  superstitions, 
customs,  beliefs,  observances  and  what  not,  that 
folklore  is  of  value  to  science.  It  is  because  the 
various  constituents  are  survivals  of  something 
much  more  essential  to  mankind  than  fragments 
of  life  which  for  all  practical  purposes  of  progress 
might  well  disappear  from  the  world.'  On  this 
Mr.  Gomme  bases  his  argument,  and  the  validity 
of  his  plea  cannot  be  gainsaid — that  it  is  high  time 
that  the  value  of  folklore  as  an  adjunct  to  histori- 
cal research  should  be  recognized.  '  It  cannot  be 
studied  alone ' — no  more  than  can  any  other 
science  be  properly  considered  without  reference 
to  others.  Mr.  Gomme  therefore  treats  of  folklore 
in  reference  to  the  psychological,  anthropological, 
sociological  and  ethnological  conditions  in  the 
'  culture-area '  represented  by  the  British  Isles  ;  he 
gives  also  the  discussion  of  European  conditions 
necessitated  by  the  clash  of  Christianity  with  the 
original  native  religions.  In  each  point,  so  skilled 
a  folklorist  as  Mr.  Gomme  has,  of  course,  apt  illus- 
trations and  parallels  at  his  fingers'  ends  ;  he  has 
also  a  happy  and  straightforward  style  of  setting 
forth  his  matter  which  is  not  common,  at  least 
among  folklorists.  The  result  is  that  the  book  is 
both  intelligible  to  the  amateur  and  satisfactorily 
stimulating  to  the  connoisseur  in  folklore  ;  the 
footnotes  everywhere  assist  the  specialist  to  find 
particular  material  ;  and  the  illustrations  are  well 
chosen. 

It  is  scarcely  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
since  the  fundamental  parallelism  between  phylo- 
genesis and  ontogenesis  was  first  demonstrated — 
that  is  to  say,  that  the  growth  of  an  individual  is 
an  accelerated  repetition  of  the  growth  of  the  race. 
The  paradox  appears  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  interest 
in  genetic  principles  is  of  late  growth  ;  and  just  as 
the  study  of  individual  youth  is  now  developing 
into  what  will  probably  prove  a  new  science,  so 
its  phylogenetic  counterpart,  the  study  of  the 
youth  of  our  race,  has  but  just  recently  begun  on 
scientific  lines.  Where  new  ground  is  broken, 
fools  will  rush  in  ;  but  here  they  will  have  in  Mr. 
Gomme's  book  a  trustworthy  signpost  to  guide 
their  steps  on  the  right  path.  Students  of  any 
branch  of  history  must  henceforth  acknowledge 
folklore  as  an  indispensable  handmaid  to  then- 
Muse,  and  this  as  a  most  useful  handbook  to  their 

study. 

Frank  Sidgwick. 


^  ART  IN   FRANCE  cA. 


THE  MUSEUMS 
The  Louvre  has  two  new  acquisitions  of  the  very 
first  importance,  a  portrait  by  Francois  Clouet 
and  a  portrait  by  Memlinc.  The  Clouet,  which 
was  the  generous  gift  of  the  Societe  des  Amis  du 
Louvre,  is  the  only  signed  portrait  by  the  artist  at 

?3o 


present  discovered.  It  was  found  at  Vienna  by 
M.  Moreau-Nelaton,  who  bought  it  for  a  little  less 
than  ^2,000  (a  sum  certainly  far  below  its  market 
value)  and  transferred  it  to  the  Amis  du  Louvre 
at  the  same  price.  The  portrait,  which  is  three- 
quarter  length  and  life-size,  represents  a  man  with 


PORTRAIT   BY   HAXS   MEMLING 
RECENTLY   ACQUIRED   BY   THE   LOUVRE 


> 


2j 


ART   IX    FRANCE 


Art  in  France 


a  Charles  IX  beard,  dressed  in  a  doublet  of  black 
terry  velvet  with  lace  insertions  of  the  same  colour 
and  a  narrow  collar  and  cuffs  in  point  de  Venise  ; 
he  has  a  book  filled  with  dried  plants  open  before 
him.  At  the  bottom  of  the  picture  on  the  left  of 
ttie  figure  is  the  inscription  : — 

FR.  lANETII    OPVS 

E.  QUTTO  AMICO   SINGVLARI 

AETATIS  SVE  XLIII 

1562 

Francois  Clouet  signed  '  Janet,'  the  diminutive 
of  his  father's  name  Jean,  in  accordance  with  a 
custom  common  at  the  time.  The  subject  of  the 
portrait  has  been  identified  with  certainty  by  M. 
Henri  Stein  as  the  result  of  researches  in  the 
archives  of  the  Ecole  de  Pharmacie.  He  is  a 
Parisian  grocer  and  apothecary  named  Pierre 
Quthe,  who  had  a  great  reputation  between  1550 
and  1585  ;  one  of  the  reasons  of  his  celebrity  was 
the  fact  that  he  possessed  one  of  the  finest  gardens 
in  Paris,  hence  the  book  with  the  botanical  speci- 
mens. Quthe  was  an  intimate  friend  and  a  neigh- 
bour of  Francois  Clouet ;  they  lived  a  few  doors 
from  each  other  in  the  rue  St.  Avoye,  near  the 
Temple,  in  what  is  now  the  3rd  arrondissement. 
The  street  has  disappeared,  but  there  are  still  an 
impasse  and  a  passage  St.  Avoie.  By  the  presenta- 
tion of  this  profoundly  interesting  work  the  Society 
des  Amis  du  Louvre  has  added  one  more  to  the 
many  invaluable  services  that  it  has  rendered  to 
the  gallery. 

The  portrait  of  an  old  woman  by  Memlinc  ^  was 
already  well  known,  and  M.  Leprieur  has  desired  to 
acquire  it  for  the  Louvre  ever  since  it  was  exhibited 
at  Bruges  in  1902.  It  was  then  in  the  possession 
of  M.  Nardus,  who  was  at  that  time  unwilling  to 
part  with  it,  but  it  has  since  passed  into  the  hands 
of  M.  Kleinberger,  from  whom  the  Louvre  has 
acquired  it  for  the  sum  of  200,000  frs.,  which  can- 
not be  considered  at  all  an  exaggerated  price. 
M.  Kleinberger  had  already  been  the  means  of 
placing  in  the  Louvre  the  suberb  Homme  an  verve 
lie  vin,  formerly  attributed  to  Fouquet,  so  that  he 
lias  provided  the  gallery  with  two  of  its  most 
precious  possessions.  This  portrait  of  an  old 
woman  was  the  earliest  and  the  finest  of  a  series  of 
portraits  of  unknown  persons  included  in  the 
Bruges  exhibition,  and  is  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able of  Memlinc's  works.  It  originally  formed 
part  of  a  diptych  ;  the  other  half,  representing  the 
old  lady's  husband,  is  in  the  Berlin  museum,  to 
which  the  portrait  now  in  the  Louvre  was  lent  for 
some  time  by  its  late  owner,  M.  Nardus.  Both 
portraits  were  formerly  in  the  Meazza  collection 
at  Milan  and  were  included  in  the  sale  of  that 
collection  in  1884. 

We  must  hold  over  till  next  month  our  notes 
on  other  changes  and  acquisitions, 

^Reproduced  on  p.  231. 


EXHIBITIONS 

The  theatrical  exhibition  at  the  Mus&  des  Arts 
Dccoratifs  is  an  interesting  and  amusing  show, 
although  it  does  not  quite  come  up  to  one's  antici- 
pations. Its  scope  is  wide  and  ranges  from  such 
exhibits  as  the  chair  of  Moliereor  the  penholder  of 
Rachel  to  the  remarkable  collection  of  Greek  and 
Roman  antiquities  connected  with  the  theatre  which 
is  lent  by  M.  Jules  Sambon.  M.  Sambon's  collection 
of  theatrical  objects,  which  is  unique,  is  the  back- 
bone of  the  exhibition.  His  antiques  compose  the 
whole  of  the  first  section  and  consist  of  392  pieces 
of  various  kinds,  besides  a  series  of  134  coins  and 
133  medals  decorated  with  theatrical  subjects. 
The  collection  of  masks  and  of  statuettes  of  actors 
and  musicians  is  remarkable  ;  there  are  also  musi- 
cal instruments  ;  vases  and  lamps  decorated  with 
theatrical  subjects  and  various  miscellaneous 
objects,  besides  the  coins  and  medals  already  men- 
tioned. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  collection, 
invaluable  as  it  is  to  the  students  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  theatres,  will  one  day  find  its  way  into  a 
public  museum.  But  M.  Sambon's  collection  is 
not  confined  to  antiquities  ;  it  forms  a  large  part 
of  the  other  sections  of  the  exhibition.  For 
instance,  all  the  faience  and  porcelain  belong  to 
him,  with  the  exception  of  the  biscuit  porcelain 
from  the  museum  of  the  Sevres  factory,  a  beautiful 
exhibit. 

It  is  impossible  in  these  notes  to  give  any  idea 
of  the  variety  of  the  exhibition.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  sections  is  the  long  series  of  models 
of  theatrical  scenery.  The  collection  of  marionettes 
includes  figures  from  Japan,  Turkey  and  Java.  A 
case  without  a  number,  which  I  could  not  find  in 
the  catalogue,  contained  a  series  of  remarkably 
clever  satirical  figures  apparently  dating  from  the 
early  nineteenth  century.  Much  of  the  porcelain 
and  faience  exhibited  is  of  fine  quality,  and  there- 
fore interesting  apart  from  its  theatrical  associations. 
The  costume  section  is  perhaps  the  weakest  part 
of  the  exhibition.  There  is  much  to  be  noticed 
among  the  busts  and  statuettes. 

The  paintings,  drawings,  pastels,  miniatures,  etc., 
which  form  a  large  part  of  the  exhibition,  have 
naturally  not  been  chosen  for  their  artistic  value, 
but  they  include  a  considerable  number  of 
interesting  pictures,  though  they  might  have  been 
more  representative.  Among  the  portraits  which 
specially  attracted  one's  attention  in  a  rather  hasty 
survey  were  those  of  the  famous  Italian  .actor  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  Guiseppe  Biancolelli, 
attributed  to  Annibale  Caracci  ;  of  Malle  Duclos, 
by  Largilliere  ;  of  Quin  (the  English  actor  of  the 
eighteenth  century)  ;  of  Duels  by  Baron  Gerard ; 
of  Pottier  by  Vernet ;  Chenard  by  Louis  David  ; 
Dejazet  by  Deveria,  and  a  fine  jiastel  portrait  of 
Lekain  by  Lenoir  (1767).  It  is  strange  that  tliis 
e.xhibition  of  theatrical  pictures  contains  not  a 
single  example  of  Degas. 


Art  in  France 

Unfortunately,  the  exhibition  has  not  the  inter- 
national character  that  it  was  intended  to  have. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
antiquities,  the  exhibits  are  mainly  French.  I 
understand  that  the  almost  entire  absence  of  any 
representation  of  England  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  English  committee  resigned  owing  to  its  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  arrangements  made.  It  must 
also  be  added  that  the  attributions  of  some  of  the 
portraits  in  the  retrospective  section  are,  both  as 
regards  subjects  and  painters,  extremely  rash. 

The  exhibition  of  the  hundred  pastels  at  the 
Georges  Petit  Galleries  has  been  a  great  success 
financially  ;  the  receipts  for  admission  amounted 
to  about  ;f  3,300,  although  the  exhibition  was  open 
only  three  weeks  and  three  days.  The  Croix 
Rouge  will,  therefore,  benefit  considerably.  Artis- 
tically the  exhibition  was  extremely  interesting, 
and  it  contained  a  great  many  fine  pastels,  but  the 
organizers  were  too  lenient  in  regard  to  doubtful 
and  more  than  doubtful  works ;  had  a  more 
severe  standard  been  adopted  nearly  one-third  of 
the  pastels  exhibited  would  have  been  excluded. 
Far  greater  severity  ought  to  be  used  in  exhibi- 
tions of  this  kind,  for  the  fact  that  a  picture  has 
been  shown  in  an  important  exhibition  is  not 
infrequently  used  as  a  commercial  asset  when  the 
picture  comes  to  be  sold,  and  this  not  alone  by 
professional  dealers. 

The  Georges  Petit  galleries  are  now  entirely 
filled  with  the  works  of  Gaston  La  Touche ; 
the  exhibition,  which  is  a  complete  history  of 
the  painter's  artistic  life,  is  well  worth  a  visit 
It  will  continue  until  13th  July.  The  'Salon 
de  Mobilier'  will  open  at  the  Grand  Palais  in 
the  course  of  July ;  it  is  announced  that  it  will 
contain  a  fine  art  section,  presumably  pictures  of 
furniture  and  interiors,  unless  indeed  it  is  a  refuge 
for  the  unhung. 

The  medal  of  honour  for  painting  in  the  Salon 
has  been  won  by  M.  Marcel  Baschet  for  his  por- 
trait of  Henri  Rochefort ;  he  obtained  261   votes 
against  123  for  M.  Guillemet  in   the  final  ballot. 
M.   Jean    Boucher   gained   by   an   overwhelming 
majority  the  medal  of   honour   in  the  section  of 
sculpture  for  his  monument  to  Victor  Hugo.     It  is 
doubtful  whether  either  of  these  decisions  would 
be   confirmed   by    many    critics,  but  critics  and 
artists  proverbially  differ.     The  jury  awarded  no 
medals  of  the  first  class  in  the  section  of  painting  ; 
among  the  fourteen  recipients  of  medals  of  the 
second  class  were  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Hughes- 
Stanton,    and   an    American,    Mr.    Robert    Mac- 
Cameron.    Mr.  Craig,  Mr.  Swinson  and  Mr.  Adams 
were  among  the  twenty-six  medallists  of  the  third 
class.        Mr.    H.    H.    Brown,    Mr.    Carter,     Mr. 
Hartshorne,  Mr.  Redfield,  Mr.  A.  Jacob,  Mr.  Hay, 
Miss  Clarke  and  Miss  Morgan  received  honourable 
mention.     Mr.  Fry  and  Mr.  Ward  received  medals 
of  the  third  class  in  the  section  of  sculpture. 


SALES 
The  sales  this  month  have  again  been  lacking  in 
interest  and  importance,  and  the  season,  which  has 
been  the  dullest  known  in  the  Parisian  auction 
rooms  for  many  years,  is  now  nearly  at  an  end. 
Two  of  the  most  important  pictures  that  have 
turned  up  had  a  sale  to  themselves  on  5th  June. 
One  was  a  painting  attributed  to  Fragonard,  Le 
Coiitrat,  the  other  a  picture  by  Corot,  Castel  Gandolfo ; 
although  no  owner's  name  was  mentioned,  it  was 
known  that  the  pictures  came  from  the  estate  of 
the  late  Marquis  d'Hautpoul.  Le  Contrat  was  no 
doubt  bought  in  at  the  sale  of  the  d'Hautpoul 
collection  in  1905,  when  it  was  knocked  down  at 
29,000  frs.  On  5th  June  the  highest  bid  was  only 
26,000  frs.,  and  the  picture  was  sold  at  that  price 
plus  the  usual  commission.  The  explanation  is 
that  the  picture  was  probably  mainly  or  even 
entirely  the  work  of  Fragonard's  pupil.  Mile. 
Gerard.  The  Castel  Gandolfo  of  Corot,  on  the 
other  hand,  fetched  the  high  price  (including  com- 
mission) of  110,110  frs.,  the  expert's  demand 
being  only  60,000  frs.  This  picture  was  bought 
in  1865,  at  the  sale  of  the  Gros  collection,  for 
1,540  frs. 

The  collection  of   the  late  Madame  Debacker 
contained  very  few  pictures  of  importance,  but  a 
gouache    by    Claude     Hoin,    Portrait   de     Mine. 
Diigazon  dans  le  role  de  Xina  on  la  Folk  par  amour 
(signed  and  dated   1786),  fetched    the  enormous 
price  of  50,600  frs.,  more  than  double  what  the 
expert  asked  for  it.     The  price  is  the  more  extra- 
ordinary since  there  exist  several  versions  by  Hoin 
of  this  subject ;  one  such  fetched  20,900  frs.  at  the 
Goncourt  sale  in   1897,  ^""^  another  25,300  frs.  at 
the    Muhlbacher    sale    in     1899.     A    Diaz,    Une 
Clairicre,   fetched   16,500  frs.     Some  of  the  objets 
d'art,  many  of  which  were  good,  sold  well,  and  the 
tapestries  fetched  high  prices.      A  single  Beauvais 
tapestry,  one   of   the   series   known    as   la   Noble 
Pastorale  designed  by  Boucher,  and  representing 
les  Plaisirs  de  la  Peche,  was  sold  for  132,550  frs. 
— less,  however,   than   the  expert's   demand.      A 
Brussels  tapestry  after  Teniers  fetched  27,500  frs. 
The  pictures  belonging  to  the  late  M.  Reitlinger 
were  for  the  most  part  very  poor  stuff,  and  fetched 
low  prices,  the   total   (for   214   lots)  being   only 
81,592  frs.  plus  the  ten  per  cent.  The  only  interest 
of  this  sale  was  that  it  confirmed  the  marked  rise 
in  the  price  of  pictures  by  Courbet.     A  picture  by 
this  artist  called  Les  deux  amis,  which  was  merely 
a  replica  of  part  of  the  large  picture  formerly  in 
the   Zygomalas   collection,  fetched   no  less  than 
12,650  frs.,    nearly    4,000    frs.    more    than    the 
expert  asked  for  it.      A  Marine  by  Courbet  was 
sold  for  6,710  frs.,  rather  less  than  the  expert's 
demand. 

The  sale  of  the  collection  of  modern  pictures 
belonging  to  the  late  M.  de  Porto-Riche  had 
excited  in  advance  a  certain  amount  of  interest, 


234 


Art  in  France 


which  turned  out  to  be  hardly  justified.  The 
collection  also  included  furniture  and  ohids  d'ait, 
not  of  first-rate  importance,  and  the  prices  were 
low  as  a  rule.  The  highest  price  was  20,350  frs. 
for  La  Marc  en  forct,  by  Diaz,  which  realized 
16,500  frs.  at  the  Garnier  sale  in  1894. 

At  the  sale  of  the  Helene  Chauvin  collection  a 
proof  of  the  portrait  of  Edouard  Dagoty,  by 
Lasinio,  sold  for  8,360  frs.,  and  a  proof  before 
letters  of  ].  R.  Smith's  Promenade  at  Carlisle  House 
for  7,062  frs. 

The  collection  of  the  late  M.  E.  Coudray,  sold  on 
12th  and  13th  July,  consisted  of  modern  paintings, 
water  colours,  pastels  and  drawings.  The  highest 
prices  were  19,800  frs.  for  a  Venetian  picture  by 
Ziem,  quite  of  the  ordinary  type  ;  14,300  frs.  for 
L'Efang  by  Corot  ;  14,300  frs.  for  Biblis,  a  single 
female  figure  by  Henner  ;  14,300  frs.  for  Le  Berger 
el  son  tronpeaii  by  Charles  Jacque,  whose  pictures 
keep  up  in  value  ;  and  10,780  frs.  for  a  portrait  of 
J  nana  Roman  i  by  F.  Roybet.  The  sale  was 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  high  prices  paid  for 
water  colours  by  Ziem — 5,830  frs.  for  Bragozzi  et 
gondoles  stir  le  Grand  Canal;  5,170  frs.  for  La  Cara- 
vane  partant  da  Caire  pour  la  Mccqne  ;  4,950  frs. 
for  Lc  Bord  des  etang  en  Cantargnc  ;  3,355  frs.  for 
a  Venetian  Soleil  concliant.  A  water  colour  by 
Fantin-Latour,  Le  Jitgenient  dc  Paris,  fetched 
8,030  frs.,  and  the  water  colours  by  Chaplin,  Har- 
pignies,  Charles  Jacque,  Leon  Lhermitte  and 
Gustave  Moreau  sold  well. 

At  a  sale  of  modern  pictures  of  no  special  import- 
ance, held  at  the  Hotel  Drouot,  on  June  i6th,  fairly 
good  prices  were  obtained.  MM.  Bernheim  jeune 
paid  8,800  frs.  for  a  picture  by  Cazin,  La  Lecture, 
in  the  form  of  a  fan. 

GENERAL  NOTES 

M.  Charles-Edouard  Steinheil,  whose  terrible 
murder  by  burglars  has  been  a  sensation  of  the 
month,  was  a  rather  well-known  painter  of  his- 
torical and  genre  subjec^ts.  He  was  born  in  1850 
and  first  exhibited  at  the  Salon  in  1870.  In  1890 
he  followed  his  cousin,  Meissonier,  to  the  New 
Salon,  but  returned  to  the  Old  Salon  five  years 
later.  His  father,  Louis  Steinheil,  was  celebrated 
for  his  restoration  of  mediaeval  wall-paintings  and 
stained  glass,  and  worked  a  great  deal  for  Viollet- 
Ic-Duc. 

A  monument  to  the  dramatist  Henry  Becquc 
has  been  placed  at  the  corner  of  the  Boulevard  de 
Courcelles  and  the  Avenue  de  Villiers.  The  bust 
of  Becque  is  the  work  of  M.  Rodin,  and  the 
architectural  part  of  the  monument  is  designed  by 
M .  Nenot. 

M.  Naudet,  the  architect  of  historical  monuments, 
has  discovered  in  the  Palace  of  the  Popes  at 
Avignon  the  remains  of  the  entrance  to  the  great 
chapel  of  the  palace,  known  as  the  Chapel  of 
Clement  VL      The    entrance    consisted   of    two 


doors,  the  archings  of  which  are  almost  intact,  as 
is  the  base  of  the  pier  dividing  them.  The  bases 
of  the  pillars  are  decorated  with  very  fine  sculptures 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  in  the  niches  above 
one  statue  remains,  but  the  head  and  hands  are 
missing.  The  entrance  was  covered  by  modern 
masonry.  The  ancient  pavement  of  the  Salle  de 
I'Audience  has  also  been  discovered,  and  this  hall 
will  be  restored  to  its  ancient  proportions  ;  when 
the  palace  was  turned  into  a  barrack  the  floor  was 
raised  by  about  four  feet.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  restoration  of  this  superb  monument  of  the 
middle  ages  will  not  be  carried  too  far,  as  in  the 
case  of  Mont  St.  Michel. 

The  burglaries  in  churches  continue  :  Chartres 
Cathedral  and  the  church  of  St.  Jacques  at  Dieppe 
were  recently  broken  into  and,  although  little  or 
nothing  was  stolen,  a  superb  window  was  broken 
at  Chartres  in  order  to  effect  an  entrance.  At 
Limoges  Cathedral,  the  latest  to  be  pillaged,  the 
burglars  were  more  successful ;  they  carried  off  a 
number  of  ancient  enamels,  scheduled  and  inven- 
toried by  the  Ministry  of  Fine  Arts,  and  valued 
at  ;^'4,ooo.  Meanwhile  it  is  announced  that 
Thomas,  now  undergoing  imprisonment,  has  made 
fresh  statements  which  have  decided  the  magistrate 
at  Clermont-Ferrand  to  summon  once  more  cer- 
tain Parisian  dealers  who  were  examined  at  the 
trial.  It  is  possible  that  there  may  be  interesting 
developments.  In  any  case  it  is  high  time  to  take 
some  steps  to  protect  the  art  treasures  in  the 
churches  ;  if  they  cannot  be  protected  where  they 
are,  they  must  be  placed  elsewhere.  The  Limoges 
affair  may  convince  the  Government  of  the  neces- 
sity of  proceeding  with  the  measure  drafted  by  M. 
Briand  when  he  was  Minister  of  Fine  Arts,  which 
has  up  to  now  slumbered  in  a  pigeon-hole. 

The  following  is  the  somewhat  meagre  official 
description  of  the  objects  stolen  from  Limoges, 
which  it  may  be  useful  to  publish  in  case  any  of 
them  should  turn  up  in  England: — 

Two  '  pax '  in  painted  enamel  of  the  fifteenth  century,  one 
representing  the  seven  sorrows  of  Our  Lady,  and  the  other 
scenes  in  the  Passion. 

Three  'altar  cards'  in  painted  enamel  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  by  Nicolas  Laudin,  considered  to  be  among  the  finest 
works  of  that  .irtist ;  the  Crucifixion  is  represented  on  the  central 
panel ;  on  one  of  the  others  are  the  sacrifice  of  Abraham  and 
the  death  of  Abel,  and  on  the  third  the  adoration  of  the  Magi, 
the  marriage  at  Cana,  and  the  four  Evangelists. 

Two  Greek  crosses  for  use  by  canons,  in  enamelled  silver  with 
representations  of  St.  Martial  and  St.  Stephen. 

Two  pyxes  in  parcel-gilt ;  a  monstrance  in  p.ircel-fiilt  ;  a 
chalice  in  parcel-gilt;  a  chalice  enriched  with  enamels  and 
precious  stones ;  a  chalice  in  parcel-gilt  with  decorations  of 
gold  in  different  shades;  three  chalices  in  silver-gilt;  two 
chalices  in  silver ;  two  pyxes  in  silver  ;  two  Kirgc  pyxes  in 
parcel-gilt ;  two  other  pyxes  surmounted  by  a  small  Lalm  cross 
screwed  into  a  globe  ;  an  Ai^iiiis  Oct  with  the  legend,  'Anunam 
suam  dat  pro  ovibus  '  ;  a  box  for  the  holy  oils. 

A  portable  candlestick  (used  for  pontilical  functions)  in  parcel- 
gilt  ;  an  ewer  in  parcel-gilt  bearing  a  plateau  with  the  arms  of 
Mgr.  Buissas,  formerly  Bishop  of  Limoges  ;  a  canon's  cross  in 
silver  and  enamel ;  an  enamelled  morse  (clasp)  for  a  cope. 

R.  E.  D. 

235 


(A^ 


ART  IN  GERMANY,  AUSTRIA  AND   SWITZERLAND  cAj 


HE  Goethe  Museum  has  been 
thoroughly  rearranged,  with  a 
view  to  reinstating  the  condi- 
tions which  obtained  at  the 
time  of  Goethe's  death.  Ex- 
cepting his  study  and  the 
room  in  which  he  died — these 
two  never  having  been  altered 
in  the  least  since  1832 — many  objects  which  bore 
upon  Goethe  and  his  works  have  gradually  found 
their  way  into  the  museum.  The  great  poet's  fine 
art  collections  were,  however,  considerable  enough 
to  warrant  the  attempt  to  show  the  public  just 
what  Goethe  had  delighted  in  and  into  what 
special  channels  he  had  turned  his  collector's 
interests.  This  end  has  been  achieved  by  the 
new  rearrangement,  which  extended  only  to 
those  rooms  of  the  house  which  Goethe  actually 
lived  in. 

A  catalogue,  the  need  of  which  has  often  been 
felt,  has  just  appeared.  It  describes  scientifically 
the  1,070  paintings  in  the  Bayerische  National 
Museum  at  Munich,  and  was  compiled  by  Prof.  K. 
Voll,  H.  Braune  and  H.  Buchheit.  The  museum 
contains,  as  is  well  known  to  specialists,  very  many 
important  works  of  the  early  Bavarian  and  Suabian 
schools,  which  have  never  before  been  satisfactorily 
reproduced  or  even  catalogued. 

The  municipality  of  Venice  has  honoured  Franz 
von  Stuck,  the  well-known  Munich  painter,  with 
a  special  invitation  to  arrange  as  complete  an 
exhibition  of  his  life-work  as  possible  for  the 
International  Fine  Art  Exhibition,  to  be  held  there 
in  1909. 

The    Markische   Provinzialmuseum    has    been 
reopened  in  a  new  building  designed  by  Ludwig 
Hoffman  at  Berlin.     This  collection  is  excellent, 
having  many  points  in  common  with  the  Musee 
Carnavalet  at  Paris,  but  it  covers  a  mucli  wider 
field,  since  it  embraces  art,  archaeology,  science, 
natural   history  and  civilization    of   the  Province 
Brandenburg  and  its  capital  Berlin.  The  collections 
for  years  have  not  really  been  on  view,  as  only  a 
small    part   of   them    were   shown    in  temporary 
quarters  while  the  present  structure  was  in  course 
of  erection.     This  new  building  is,  owing  to  the 
site,  rather  irregular  in  plan,  and  when  one  visits 
it  one  is  rather  bewildered  by  the  multiplicity  of 
rooms  and  corridors  ;   even  an  expert  will  lose  his 
bearings.    In  other  respects,  however,  the  museum 
is  well  adapted  to  the  collections  which  it  contains. 
It  is  built  in  the  North-German  Gothic  style  of  red 
brick,  near  the  Jannowitzbriicke  at  the  east  end  of 
the  town,  rather  inconvenient   for  strangers,  but 
very  wisely  located  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  real 
purpose,    which    is    that    of    being    a    people's 
museum. 

The  art  collections  are  varied  and  important. 
There  are  a  good  many  early  paintings,  removed 
thither  from  old  churches  and  chapels  ;  further, 
many  interesting  portraits  and  an  extensive  collec- 

236 


tion  of  prints  by  local  artists,  of  whom  Chodowiecki, 
Meil,  Cunningham  and  G.  F.  Schmidt  are  four 
of  the  most  important.  The  topographical  collec- 
tion, plans  and  views  of  Berlin,  is  hue,  and  it  is 
most  interestingly  supplemented  by  caricatures 
and  types  of  Berlin  life.  Those  dating  from  the 
middle  of  the  forties  to  the  middle  of  the  seventies 
— the  time  during  which  Berlin  gradually  changed 
from  an  overgrown  village  into  one  of  the  world's 
capitals,  and  was  given  to  surprise  and  witticisms 
over  its  own  growth — are  particularly  amusing. 

One  room  is  devoted  to  the  guilds,  another  to 
the  old  porcelain  and  pottery  manufactures. 
There  are  several  rooms  illustrating  the  customs 
and  manner  of  living  of  the  Spreewald  peasant ; 
again,  several  interesting  rooms  showing  what  the 
house  of  the  average  Berlin  citizen  in  1830  or 
thereabouts  looked  like. 

The  Provinzialmuseum  is  certainly  one  of  the 
most  interesting  of  the  numerous  line  Berlin 
museums,  and  should  receive  attention  at  the 
hands  not  only  of  the  student  of  manners  and 
customs  but  also  of  fine  and  applied  art. 

At  Aix-la-Chapelle  new  researches  and  excava- 
tions are  pending  in  Charlemagne's  old  cathedral 
church.  The  floor  of  the  octagon  is  to  be 
examined  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  exact 
location  and  form  of  Charlemagne's  grave  ; 
further,  it  is  proposed  to  establish,  and  possibly 
restore,  some  of  the  most  ancient  parts  of  the 
structure,  as  they  were  originally  planned.  In  the 
course  of  centuries  great  changes  have,  of  course, 
taken  place  :  floors  have  been  raised  and  lowered  ; 
the  atrium,  which  was  once  open,  has  been 
walled  up,  etc.  It  is  expected  that  excavations 
may  bring  some  interesting  archaeological  rem- 
nants to  light. 

The  magnificent  portrait  of  Scnora  Cean 
Bermudez  by  Goya,  lately  reproduced  in  THE 
Burlington  Magazine,'  has  been  acquired  by 
the  Hungarian  Government  for  the  National 
Gallery  at  Budapest.  The  Museum  at  Basle  has 
purchased  a  large,  interesting  canvas  by  the  quaint 
Swiss  painter  Albert  Walti,  who  is  also  well  known 
as  an  etcher,  and  who  has  for  years  been  living 
at  Munich.  The  picture  is  called  The  Three 
Henitits. 

Kiel,  the  home  of  the  German  Marine,  is  to 
have  a  new  Museum  of  Asiatic  Art.  The  collec- 
tion formed  by  Professor  Adolf  Fischer  during 
his  sojourn  in  Japan  and  China  will  form  the 
foundation  of  the  new  collection.  At  Neuss  the 
widow  of  Dr.  Sels  has  left  an  important  collection 
of  old  paintings,  principally  genre  pictures  of  the 
Dutch  seventeenth  century,  portraits  of  historical 
interest,  some  works  by  the  Master  of  St.  Severin 
and  other  early  Cologne  artists,  to  the  town. 

The  Kaiser-Friedrich  Museum  at  Berlin  has 
received  a  Netherlandish  Christ  Taking  Leave  of  His 

Vol.  xiii,  p.  gS  (May,  1908). 


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— ^ 

I.   COLOUR    PRINT     liV    KIVON'AGA   lUKFllKF,    I770I 
IN'   THE    COLLECTION   OF   MR.    FRANCIS    LATIiROP 


3.   COLOUR    PRINT   BY   KIYOXAIJA  (NOT   LATKR   THAN   l/-/!) 
IN   THE   COLLECTION   OF   MK.    FRANCIS   LATHKOP 


COLOUR  PRINT  BY  KlYONAliA 
(1783I.  IN  THE  COLLECTION 
OF     .MR.      FRANCIS      LATHROP 


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ART    IN   AMERICA 
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Art  in   Germany 


Mother  as  a  present  from  Mr.  M.  Kappel.  The 
picture,  which  was  formerly  in  an  Enghsh  private 
collection,  is  ascribed  by  Dr.  Friedlander  to  the 
same  artist  who  painted  the  altarpiece  of  St. 
Mary  in  St.  Catharine's  Church  at  Liibeck,  and 
the  Magdalen  altarpiece  in  the  Royal  Gallery  at 
Brussels.  He  belongs  to  the  school  most  of  the 
works  of  which  have  heretofore  been  connected, 
rather  indiscriminately,  with  Herri  Met  de  Bles, 
and  he  certainly  hails  from  Antwerp,  about  1518. 
Among  the  Italian  bronzes  recentlyacquired  by  the 
same  institution  is  the  statuette  of  a  young  man, 
apparently  fleeing,  by  Francesco  da  Sant"  Agata, 
and  another  of  a  young  woman  playing  a  flute, 
which  apppears  to  be  of  somewhat  later  date. 
The  National  Gallery  at  Berlin  has  come  into 
possession  of  a  portrait  bust  of  Goethe  by  M.  J. 
Klauer  in  terra-cotta. 

The  Imperial  Picture  Gallery  at  Vienna  has 
received  some  important  gifts  from  Mr.  G. 
Benda.  They  em.brace  one  of  the  scarce  religious 
pictures  by  G.  Metsu  and  an  Ainiitiiciation  by  H. 
Suess  von  Kulmbach  (these  two  formerly  in  the 
Oppolzer  collection  at  Innsbruck)  and  a  delicate 


landscape  by  Gillis  d'Hondecoeter.  The  so-called 
Oesterreichisches  Museum  there  has  succeeded  in 
making  a  most  extraordinary  acquisition — viz.,  the 
tapestries  of  the  convent  of  Goess,  near  Leoben, 
once  the  oldest  and  richest  convent  in  Styria. 
They  date  from  the  foundation  of  the  establish- 
ment, about  the  year  1000  a.d.  The  most 
important  item  is  the  Antependium,  with  the 
representation  of  the  Aniiitnciatioii,  etc.,  upon 
which  occurs  what  is  said  to  be  the  earliest  men- 
tion of  the  names  of  the  three  Magi — Melchior, 
Balthasar  and  Caspar. 

The  Kunsthalle  at  Bremen  has  bought  and 
received  as  gifts  many  works  which  were  to  be 
seen  in  the  recent  exhibition  held  there.  Among 
them  there  figure  M.  Lieberman's  IVoiiian  Tending 
a  Cow  (1872),  Count  Kalckrciilli,  Snninier,  still-life 
pictures  by  Ch.  Schuch  and  A.  Lang ;  others  by 
W.  Triibner,  K.  Hofer,  G.  Kolbe  (bronzes)  and 
Gauguin.  The  Municipal  Gallery  at  Wiesbaden 
has  come  into  possession  of  an  early  landscape  by 
the  Diisseldorf  painter  Deder,  and  a  painting 
called  Coinuiunion  by  Ad.  Hoelzel. 

H.  W.  S. 


cA^  ART  IN  AMERICA  ^ 


THE  ART  OF  KIYONAGA  AS  ILLUSTRATED 

IN  AN  AMERICAN  COLLECTION 
Early  in  the  sixties,  when  Japanese  colour-prints 
were  first  imported  into  France  and  England,  they 
aroused  in  the  artistic  world  an  immediate  but 
not  a  very  discriminating  enthusiasm.  Gradually, 
however,  the  interest  in  them  became  more  intelli- 
gent, and  the  Japanese,  finding  an  appreciative 
market,  began  to  send  over  their  finest  prints.  In 
time  many  important  collections  were  formed, 
composed  almost  exclusively  of  choice  impressions 
representing  the  highest  phases  of  this  art,  but  the 
prints  illustrating  the  early  tentative  efforts  of  the 
various  masters,  having  less  artistic  finish  than 
their  more  mature  work,  were  relatively  ignored. 
Mr.  Francis  Lathrop  of  New  York,  appreciating 
the  need  of  acquiring  such  prints  for  a  collection 
in  which  the  student  would  be  able  to  trace,  step 
by  step,  the  development  of  the  art,  has  for  many 
years  devoted  much  energy  to  the  task.  With  a 
rare  feeling  for  beauty  and  a  scientific  thoroughness 
even  less  common,  he  has  formed  a  large  collec- 
tion. It  is  so  rich  in  material  for  the  elucidation  of 
the  history  of  Japanese  colour-printing  that,  when 
it  is  thoroughly  studied,  we  may  expect  important 
results.  Mr.  Lathrop's  collection  contains  about 
five  thousand  colour-prints,  over  seven  thousand 
in  black-and-white,  and  nearly  four  hundred 
paintings  and  drawings  for  the  subsidiary  illustra- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  different  artists.  His 
many  albums  are  also  of  great  historical  importance, 
for  it  is  from  the  dates  in  these  illustrated  books  that 
we  are  enabled,  through  a  study  of  the  continual 


change  of  fashion,  to  arrange  the  prints  of  each 
artist  in  chronological  order. 

Having  made  a  study  of  the  prints  in  Mr. 
Lathrop's  collection — several  of  which  are  repro- 
duced for  this  article — I  shall  endeavour  to  sketch 
the  evolution  of  the  art  of  Kiyonaga,  who  is 
acknowledged  to  be  among  the  greatest  designers 
of  colour-printing.  The  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  this  art  in  Japan  during  the  eighteenth 
century  is  due  to  the  peculiar  conditions  which 
then  prevailed.  There  was  a  highly  civilized 
society  in  which  for  generations  painters  had  been 
trained  to  ignore  light  and  shade.  During  cen- 
turies a  pictorial  art  had  flourished  whereiii  all 
objects  were  represented  by  symbols— sensitive 
expressive  outlines  filled  in  with  washes  of  colour. 
Thus,  when  colour-printing  first  came  into  practice, 
the  conventions  of  Japanese  art  were  most  favour- 
able to  its  rapid  development— one  block  being 
used  to  print  the  outlines,  others  for  the  different 
colours.  Such  a  tradition  tends  to  make  a  race 
most  sensitive  to  beauty  of  contour  and  to  the 
harmony  of  broad  masses  of  colour,  and  is  essen- 
tial to  the  logical  development  of  any  graphic  art 
not  primarily  suited  to  realistic  representation. 
Rather  than  use  an  abstract  symbolism,  our 
Western  civilization  has  shown  a  tendency  to  strive 
to  reproduce  the  actual  appearance  of  things. 
This  tendency  became  very  strong  among  the 
painters  of  Imperial  Rome,  but,  having  no  means 
of  expression  sufficiently  plastic,  their  success  was 
small.  After  the  Fall  of  Rome,  the  earlier  sym- 
bolism was  frankly  accepted— light  and  shade  again 

241 


Art  in  America 


being  ignored.  Tlie  pure  colour  in  the  mosaics 
of  Ravenna  and  the  brilhant  stained  glass  of 
Chartres,  with  its  leaded  outlines,  became  possible. 
But  with  the  Revival  of  Learning  in  the  fifteenth 
century  the  desire  to  paint  things  as  we  see  them 
in  a  mirror  led  to  the  general  adoption  of  oil 
painting  as  a  medium  which  would  fully  satisfy 
the  demand  for  chiaroscuro.  So  it  was  that  when, 
a  hundred  years  later,  colour-printing  was  first 
practised  in  Europe,  the  new  art,  although  not 
adapted  to  realistic  representation,  was  placed 
under  the  necessity  of  portraying  effects  of  light 
and  shade.  The  limitations  thus  imposed  were 
accepted  by  Ugo  da  Carpi  and  the  other  contem- 
porary masters  of  the  art.  They  felt  the  impossi- 
bility of  successfully  using  strong  colours  which, 
in  the  high  lights,  would  be  wholly  inadequate 
and,  in  the  shades,  would  be  rendered  ineffectual 
by  the  superposition  of  dark  tones.  So  they 
resorted  to  monochrome,  using  in  each  print 
several  different  values  of  a  neutral  colour,  such  as 
buff  or  olive.  This  was  fatal  to  the  complete 
development  of  the  art. 

Concerning  the  life  of  Kiyonaga  very  little  is 
known.  He  is  said  to  have  been  born  in  1742, 
and  was  the  son  of  a  bookseller.  He  studied 
under  Kiyomitsu,  from  whom  he  received  the 
traditional  instruction  of  the  Torii  school.  After 
the  death  of  Kiyomitsu,  in  1785,  he  designed  a 
series  of  theatrical  posters  in  the  style  of  his 
master,  which  he  signed  '  Kiyonaga  the  fourth 
Torii.'  The  greater  part  of  his  work,  however, 
shows  none  of  the  Torii  influence.  The  years 
from  1765  to  1782  mark  the  slow  gradual  develop- 
ment of  his  art ;  1783  to  1787  the  height  of  his 
achievement;  1788  to  1795  his  decline.  He  did 
but  little  work  after  the  year  1795,  and  is  supposed 
to  have  died  in  1814. 

To  understand  Kiyonaga's  place  in  Japanese 
art  it  is  necessary  to  follow  the  gradual  evolution 
of  the  traditions  of  pictorial  representation.  He 
was  in  no  sense  an  iconoclast,  and  never  broke 
away  from  the  conventions  of  his  time.  A  lover 
of  beautiful  form,  Kiyonaga  expressed  the  domi- 
nant thought  of  his  epoch  more  completely  than 
any  other  artist.  In  the  development  of  the  art 
of  the  extreme  orient  this  respect  for  tradition 
has  had  an  importance  which  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  comprehend.  Except  during  periods  of 
decadence,  there  has  been  a  continual  concentra- 
tion of  effort  to  add  to  the  store  of  technical 
knowledge.  The  new  discoveries  became  a  part 
of  the  common  inheritance  of  succeeding  genera- 
tions, replacing  certain  of  the  older  conventions 
which  had  ceased  to  be  vital.  The  talents  of  the 
pioneers  were  directed  by  such  traditions,  so  that, 
being  familiar  with  the  principles  of  art,  they 
could  devote  their  entire  energies  to  the  expression 
of  personality.  The  first  traditions  of  Japanese 
painting    are    derived   largely    from    an    earlier 

242 


Chinese  school  of  religious  art.     Throughout  the 
middle  ages  in  Japan,  as  in  Europe,  most  of  the 
great  artists,  many  of  them  priests,  were  devoutly 
working  for  their  religion.     From  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century  the  master-painters  were 
almost  all  employed  in  decorating  the  luxurious 
palaces  of  the  nobility,  for  the  gradual  rise  of  a 
wealthy  aristocracy   had   created   a   demand   for 
secular  art.      As    the   Japanese   had    not   had   a 
profane  art  sufficiently  rich  to  decorate  such  costly 
residences,  it   was  but   natural  that  they   should 
borrow  from  Chinese  sources.     The  lesser  artists 
who    remained    in    the   service    of    the    church 
followed  traditions  which  soon  stopped  develop- 
ing.    Religious  art   gradually   became  almost  as 
formal   as    in    Russia,  and   ceased    to   have    any 
direct   influence   on    other   branches    of   art.     A 
movement  which  was  destined  to  give  Japan    a 
national   school    of   painting   began  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century.     Matahei  and  his  followers, 
taking  their   subjects  from   the  daily  life  of   the 
people,  revolted  against   the  custom  of   clothing 
their  personages  in  Chinese  costume  and   of  re- 
presenting life  as  a  series  of  formal  pageants.  They 
gave  to  their  paintings  a  wonderful  vitality,  visual- 
izing with  an  extraordinary  power  the  most  signi- 
ficant attitudes  and  gestures   of   living  men  and 
women  without  losing  any  of  the  decorative  quality 
which  characterizes  the  work  of  their  predecessors. 
Notwithstanding    that   the  Japanese  in   their  art 
have  touched   but  lightly  the  great  problems  of 
life — crime,   poverty,  illness  and   death — there  is 
more    than   a   superficial    resemblance    between 
this   work   and   that  of   certain   modern   French 
illustrators  who  have  largely  found  their  inspira- 
tion in  social  questions.      It  is  only  in  the  best 
work   of   Forain    and    of   Steinlen    that   we  find 
the  same  vitality  as  in  Matahei,  but  their  drawings 
arc   entirely   lacking    in    the    feeling   for   beauty 
which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  Japanese  master. 
Matahei's    paintings    and    those    of    his  school, 
although    frequently   democratic   in    subject,   are 
so  rich  and  sumptuous   in   their  technique   that 
the  cost  of  production  must   have  placed  them 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  common  people.     When  at 
last  the  reproduction  of  drawings  by  means  of  a 
single  wooden  block,  and  the  subsequent  invention 
of  colour-printing,  gave  to  Japan  an   economical 
method  of  artistic  expression,  the  masses  became 
the  arbiters  of  taste.     Kiyonaga  began  to  design 
colour-prints  when  the  art  was  reaching  its  highest 
development.      He  stopped   working   before   the 
rich  traditions,  inherited,  as   I  have  shown,  from 
the  great  masters  of  style,  had  been  abandoned. 
At  the  time  of   his   death   the   strong   influence 
which  he  had  exerted  on  the  art  of  his  contem- 
poraries  was    no     longer     apparent— Kiyonaga's 
work  was  too  delicate,  too  refined  for  the  common 
people.     A  popular  revolt  against  academic  teach- 
ing all  but  swept  away  the  traditions  of  art,  the 


>  ° 

si 


:i    O 


■J  :: 


;i' 


fi^f 


5 


4iji^EiJk-i:!i*^'*c^  SA 


a  2 


=s  o 

o  ., 


'V^rr-a 


Is 


knowledge  accumulated  during  centuries  of  effort 
on  the  part  of  an  entire  race. 

Although  there  is  little  in  the  culture  of  Japan 
during  the  eighteenth  century  which  would  suggest 
that  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  the  evolution  of 
Kiyonaga's  art  is  very  similar  to  that  of  Raphael's. 
Both  in  their  early  works  are  but  echoes  of  their 
masters — Raphael  of  Perugino,  Kiyonaga  of  Kiyo- 
mitsu.  This  unquestioning  loyalty  to  tradition — 
whether  the  result  of  great  self-control  or  of  an 
early  narrowness  of  vision — gave  them  a  thorough 
technical  training.  Raphael's  genius  was  far  too 
universal  to  be  enslaved  by  the  narrow  mannerisms 
of  Perugino  and  the  Umbrian  school.  Kiyonaga 
had  also  such  sympathy  with  life  and  with  different 
phases  of  art  that  he  broke  away  from  the  rules  of 
the  Torii  school  completely.  After  acquiring  the 
needed  technical  skill,  Raphael  and  Kiyonaga 
took  great  joy  in  life  and  in  the  art  of  their  con- 
temporaries. They  imitated  successively  the  works 
of  other  masters  before  they  finally  found  that 
exquisite  impersonal  balance  which  remains  the 
fullest  expression  of  the  civilization  under  which 
each  lived, 

Mr.  Lathrop's  collection  includes  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy  colour-prints  by  Kiyonaga, 
of  which  sixty-iive  show  the  rise  of  his  art.  From 
these  I  have  chosen  four  as  illustrating  the  more 
important  steps  in  his  development.  The  tirst 
example,  dating  from  before  1770  (plate  i.  No.  i, 
about  i2X4i  inches),  represents  an  actor  on  a 
white  ground  broken  only  by  a  tree  with  delicate 
foliage  and  blossoms.  As  in  the  contemporary  actor 
prints  of  Kiyomitsu  only  three  blocks  have  been 
used — black,  rose-grey  and  lemon-yellow.  It  reveals 
how  completely  Kiyonaga  assimilated  the  teachings 
of  his  master,  for  it  has  all  the  traditional  vigour  of 
the  best  art  of  the  Torii  school  without  anything 
new  either  in  the  design  or  the  technique.  As  yet 
he  has  not  learned  that  the  qualities  of  the  line 
work  of  the  great  masters  of  black  and  white  are 
in  no  way  suited  to  colour-printing.  Colour  has 
not  been  accepted  as  an  integral  part  of  the  design, 
but  is  considered  as  a  superficial  ornamentation  of 
a  print  in  black-and-white. 

A  more  logical  use  of  colour  is  shown  in  the  next 
print  (plate  i,  No.  3,  about  12x4^  inches),  which 
dates  not  later  than  1771.  An  actress  is  repre- 
sented carrying  a  lantern.  Four  colour  blocks 
have  been  used  instead  of  three,  and,  although  the 
arrangement  is  largely  traditional,  the  colours  have 
been  used  to  accentuate  and  complete  the  draw- 
ing. There  is  but  little  to  distinguish  this  print 
from  much  of  Kiyomitsu's  work,  yet  it  is  notice- 
able that  the  influences  which  begin  to  appear  are 
from  without  the  Torii  school  of  Harunobu  and 
of  Shigemasa.  The  background  is  no  longer 
wholly  symbolic,  but  is  an  elaborate  device  to 
give  a  semblance  of  reality  to  the  figure.  Kiyonaga 
has  not  begun  that  direct  study  of  nature  which 


Art  in  America 

will  eventually  free  him  from  traditional  formalism. 
Only  such  a  study  can  furnish  the  materials 
necessary  for  a  new  interpretation  of  life.* 

In  the  following  print  (plate  ii.  No.  4,  about 
7ix8i  inches),  although  it  dates  from  but  a  year 
later,  Kiyonaga  is  at  last  wholly  free  from  the 
restraint  of  the  Torii  tradition.^  There  is,  however, 
nothing  individual,  nothing  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  work  of  Toyomasa  and  other  contemporary 
masters.  In  subject  and  treatment,  the  influence 
of  Harunobu  and  Shigemasa  is  very  apparent. 
This  tendency  to  learn  from  others  does  not  pre- 
vent Kiyonaga  from  studying  directly  from  nature. 
It  is  with  a  naive  naturalism  that  he  has  expressed 
the  intimacy  of  home-life,  the  beauty  and  grace  of 
childhood.  Tenderness  is  the  characteristic  of 
this  phase  of  Kiyonaga's  work,  a  tenderness  quite 
opposed  to  the  impersonal  dignity  of  his  later 
style. 

The  opposing  influences  of  Harunobu  and  of 
Shigemasa  could  not  long  continue  as  equal  forces 
in  the  development  of  Kiyonaga.  The  naturalism 
of  Shigemasa  succeeds  to  the  purism  of  Harunobu.^ 
This  is  shown  in  the  next  illustration,  taken  from  a 
series  of  small  prints  dating  about  1779  (plate  ii, 
No.  6,  about  10  x  7^  inches).  His  careful  adherence 
to  nature  is  most  marked  in  the  proportions  of 
the  human  figure,  which  have  become  normal. 
Throughout  Kiyonaga's  work  of  this  period  there 
runs  a  delight  in  movement,  grace  and  rhythm. 
His  later  work,  being  much  more  intellectual,  loses 
this  spontaneous  enthusiasm. 

Of  the  seventy-five  prints  in  Mr.  Lathrop's 
collection  representing  the  period  during  which 
Kiyonaga's  art  reaches  its  highest  achievement,  I 
have  selected  four  as  showing  the  types  of  his 
most  successful  work.  The  first  of  these  prints 
(plate  ii,  No.  5,  about  15x10  inches)  dates  from 
about  1783.  The  proportions  of  this  print  were 
new  to  the  Japanese  artists,  but  the  form  became 
the  most  popular  and  has  remained  so  ever  since. 
The  sheet  is  larger,  the  height  being  increased  rela- 
tively more  than  the  breadth.  This  modification 
is  important,  for  it  enables  Kiyonaga  to  make  the 
human  figure  taller  without  changing  his  methods 
of  composition.  Thus  his  growing  desire  for 
greater  dignity  is  easily  realized.  This  impression 
shows  a  great  technical  advance  on  the  preceding 
ones,  which  were  rather  carelessly  printed.  Willi 
his  increasing  power  of  design  Kiyonaga  appre- 
ciates the  need  of  greater  care,  not  only  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  wooden  blocks,  but  also  in 
the  choice  of  paper  and  of  colour,  so  that  the 
impressions  of  this  period  of  his  art  are  models  of 

'The  drawing  closely  resembles  Harunobu  in  the  Irealineiit 
the  face,  the  right  hand  and  the  draperies. 

''  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  name  Torii  is  now  omitted  from 
the  signature. 

^  Style  is  so  characteristic  of  all  Japanese  art  of  the  eiijhteenth 
century  that  the  term  naturalism  may  be  misleading.  Shunslio 
and  Shigemasa  are  naturalistic  only  as  compared  with  their 
contemporaries 

247 


Art  in  America 

colour-printing.  It  is  Kiyonaga's  work  of  this 
time  that  exerted  so  strong  an  influence  on  Shuncho 
and  on  Yeishi. 

Although  Kiyonaga  designed  so  many  of  the 
long  narrow  prints,  known  as  kakemono-ye,  it  had 
but  slight  effect  on  his  other  work.  He  is,  how- 
ever, so  successful  in  this  form  of  composition 
that  it  has  seemed  necessary  to  include  one  in  the 
illustrations  in  order  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of 
the  breadth  of  his  genius.  The  print  chosen 
(plate  i.  No.  2,  about  27x5  inches)  dates  from 
1783.  With  an  exquisite  moderation  Kiyonaga 
has  here  relieved  the  simplicity  of  the  general  lines 
with  a  great  variety  of  patterning.  This  love  for 
flowing  line-work  broken  by  arabesques  is  very 
characteristic  of  his  genius  ;  as  is  also  the  elegance 
of  the  folds  of  the  dress  as  it  is  tossed  about  by 
the  movement  of  the  feet.  The  bared  leg  suggests 
how  beautifully  Kiyonaga  treated  the  nude. 

I  regret  being  able  to  give  only  the  right  hand 
print  of  the  diptych  in  plate  iii.  No.  7,  for  in  the 
complete  work  the  symmetry  of  the  space  com- 
position is  as  studied  as  in  Raphael's  decorations 
in  the  Vatican.  Kiyonaga  has,  however,  in  this 
print  so  successfully  united  the  utmost  purity  of 
style  with  a  rare  poetic  feeling  that  it  seemed  best 
to  include  it  in  the  illustrations,  especially  as  he 
invariably  composes  each  sheet  so  that  it  is  a  work 
of  beauty  in  itself.  A  group  of  women  at  leisure 
is  listening  to  soft  music,  and  the  charm  of  their 
graceful  idleness  is  enhanced  by  the  suggestion  of 
labour  in  the  distant  background.  The  sense  of 
toil  is  so  remote  that  it  but  relieves  what  otherwise 
might  have  seemed  monotonous. 

There  is — at  least  to  the  western  mind — less  of 
human  interest  in  the  next  print,  which  is  from 
the  same  period  as  the  preceding  one  (plate  iii. 
No.  8,  about  15x10  inches).  A  court  lady  with 
her  attendant  maid  is  shown.  In  illustrations  of 
court  life  it  was  customary  to  follow  the  traditional 
type  furnished  by  paintings  of  the  Tosa  school. 
The  faces  are  heavy,  yet  weak  and  effeminate — 
characteristics  developed  by  centuries  of  luxury 
and  indolence.  Kiyonaga  has  here  made  fewer 
concessions  to  this  custom  than  was  usual.  The 
composition  is  supremely  decorative.  The  blacks 
are  full  and  vigorous,  bringing  out  the  great 
distinction  of  the  line-work.  There  is  a  rare 
harmony  of  bufts  and  olive  greens,  relieved  by  the 
tine  quality  of  the  black.  Then,  as  if  beauty  of 
colour  and  line  were  not  enough,  the  surface,  in 
places,  is  richly  embossed. 

During  the  years  1786  and  1787  Kiyonaga 
executed  a  number  of  theatrical  sheets  remarkable 
in  design  and  colour.  Strong  lines  cross  each 
other  at  startling  angles,  giving  an  idea  of  barbaric 
force.  The  restless  crudity  of  the  colour  in  some 
of  the  prints  is  so  full  of  vitality  that  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  why  the  decline  of  his  art  should 


have  begun  within  a  j'ear  or  two.  The  first  step 
in  this  decadence  is  shown  in  the  next  print,  where 
for  the  first  time  one  finds  crudities  in  the  design, 
which  come  from  a  degeneration  of  his  powers 
(plate  iv.  No.  9,  about  15x10  inches).  The  gown 
of  the  woman  on  the  left,  with  its  rather  violent 
spotting  of  bamboo  and  chrysanthemum  on  black, 
seems  out  of  taste.*  The  way  the  folds  of  the 
kimonos  fall  about  the  feet  is  more  mannered 
than  in  his  earlier  work.  Yet  in  spite  of  such 
defects  the  print  is  very  beautiful,  and  the  profound 
influence  which  the  work  of  this  period  had  upon 
Kiyomine  and  other  younger  artists  is  not  sur- 
prising. 

The  next  print,  a  section  from  a  triptych  dating 
about  1792,  shows  how  rapidly  Kiyonaga's  art 
declined  (plate  iv.  No.  10,  about  15x10  inches). 
The  overcrowded  composition  is  filled  with 
conventional  figures  robed  in  kimonos  which  fall 
in  heavy  meaningless  folds.  An  insipid  type  of 
face  is  used  for  men  and  women  alike.  The  forms 
expressed  with  a  line  lacking  in  accent  and  delicacy 
are  wholly  without  elegance.  Although  the  subject 
is  new  to  him,  Kiyonaga,  apparently,  has  taken  no 
interest  in  the  execution  of  this  print.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  know  whether,  yielding  to  the  increas- 
ing vulgarity  of  taste,  Kiyonaga  had  simply  de- 
signed what  his  customers  would  buy,  or  if,  in  this 
last  phase  of  his  art,  his  powers  of  design  had 
really  failed. 

With  the  aid  of  Mr.  Lathrop's  prints,  I  have 
now  roughly  traced  the  evolution  of  the  art  of 
Kiyonaga.  His  work  is  the  natural  expression  of 
the  society  in  which  he  lived — a  mature  civilization 
rich  in  traditions.  Wood  engraving  in  black  and 
white  had  already  its  highest  point  in  Japan  in  the 
work  of  Masanobu,  many  of  whose  early  prints 
were  coloured  by  hand.  This  led  to  an  innovation 
— the  use  of  colour-blocks.  The  conditions  were 
most  favourable  to  the  rapid  development  of  the 
new  art.  The  processes  of  printing  had  been 
gradually  perfected,  so  that  Kiyonaga  had  at  his  ser- 
vice an  adequate  means  of  expression.  In  his  earliest 
work  he  is  entirely  impersonal,  following  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Torii  school  without  a  trace  of  emotion. 
He  thus  masters  the  use  of  his  materials.  Then, 
borrowing  from  his  contemporaries  what  appeals 
to  him,  and  studying  directly  from  nature,  he  gives 
a  most  sympathetic  interpretation  of  Japanese 
life.  But  this  only  leads  up  to  his  highest  achieve- 
ment: an  elegance  as  free  from  personality  as  his 
earliest  work,  save  for  an  occasional  touch  of 
humour.  It  has  the  supreme  qualities  of  classical 
architecture. 

H.4MILT0N  Easter  Field. 

[■*  The  contrasts  in  ttiis  print  are  certainly  more  audacious  ; 
but  an  artist,  far  from  recognizing  a  decadence,  migtit  argue 
Willi  some  reason  that  this  increase  of  boldness  indicated  a 
positive  advance  in  Kiyonaga's  power  of  design. — Ed.] 


248 


ELEMA    GRI.MALbl,    WIFE    OF    NIC^ULO    CATTANEO.      FROM    THE    PAINTING 
BY  VAN    DYCK    I\    THE    COLLECTION    OF    MR.    P.    A.    B.    WIDENER 


EP'^'^'-'       I. 


^   .  i!)    PRESERVa. 


in; 


Vncicnt 

es    the 


careful  attention  ._ .  ...  ..   . 

a  subject  of  which  the  imporia 
year  is  being  more  widely  and 
realized.     Since  the  publication 
feasor  Baldwin  Brown's  admirable  sr 
of  the  steps  taken  by  other  couni 
the  preservation  of  their  historic   r\\ 
ments/  no 

fpv    •  • 


ince  a-: 
Prim« 

mission  will  be  appointed  to  report  vn  the 
preservation    of   ancient    monumc;  ts    i- 
Great  Britain.     The  suggestions  involve  ; 
(i)  The  creation  of  a  centr;!  per!i' 
nent  monument  commission  f;  ■'  each 
the  three  kingdoms,  to  draw  ur-  >  reg 
of  national    monument^^-,   ai;  :    the: 
protect  them  with  t^ 

architects    ••  '    

a  Govern!' 

(ii) 
mf ' 


manci- 

V 

another   ; 

.5 

withii: 

it 

the  presci.i 

.^•.les- 

tion,  even  it   ... 

.i-com- 

panied  by  any  re 

grant  of 

money  in  additic  '■  to  the 

>a!r-.nes.       In  its 

present    form    i'.    appears 

rather   imprac- 

'  See  The  Burlington  MAGA«i> 

i  pp.  436-7  (Marti), 

IKS  Bi;»:  :v.    . j>  'AKamtr 

-  August,  lgo8. 

.1.RTICLES 
ANCIENT  BUILDINGS  c*^ 

' z  at  a  time  when  monev  is  wa? 
;iM    ->  many  other  purposes  which  ma.^l 
make  a  much  larger  appeal  to  the  popular 
imagination.      We    need    not,   therefore, 
discuss  at  present  whether  the  creation  of 

a  bureaucracy,  however  sensibly  n ', 

is  the  best  means  of  preserving  ouj  .  t 

monuments  from  the  speculator,  the  vandal 
or  the  dunce. 

One  exceedingly  practical  piece  of  work 
has  already  been  carried  through  by 
the  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Ancient 
Buildings,  The  committee  has  issued 
through  Mr.  Batsford,  at  the  price  of 
eighteenpence,  an  admirable  little  volume 
of  '  Notes  on  the  Repair  of  Ancient 
Buildings,'  which,  though  necessarily  brief, 
is  as  clear  and  precise  as  such  a  thing 
well  could  be.  Not  only  does  it  include 
general  questions  of  treatment,  but  it  goes 
carefully  into  details  of  structure  and 
timber-work,  so  that  where  the  services 
of  a  trained  architect  are  not  available  it 
can  be  understood  by  an  intelligent  mason. 
The  great  advantage  of  such  a  publication 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  can  in  a  moment  be 

.iced  in  the  hands  of  any  owner  who 
contemplates  restoring  an  o'!'  '-•■•' -'—t^ 
and  can  leave  him  under  no  rn.    ,  .  1- 

sion  as  to  the  best  way  of  doing  the  work. 

The  difficulty  is  to  find  the  owners  and 
the  buildings  at  the  critical  r,i  'I 
here  the  support  of  a  Roy,il  .~  .1 
might  augment  immeasurably  Jty's 
usefulness.  At  present  it  seems  tp  be 
prevented  by  want  of  funds  from  prepar- 
ing  any    pr- —  -.-d    of   the    ancient 

buildings  an  nts  in   the  United 

Kingdom.     Such  a  register  is  a  necessary 
basis    for  subsequent  action,  and    if  the 

Royal  0  -■  ■' ■  ■  t 

the    exp^;...  '' 

society  in  t'  .e  und^rtal  i 

have  gone  far  to  solve  a  difficult  prui 


EDITORIAL 
cA^  THE  PRESERVATION  OF 

HE  suggestive  paper  read 
by  Sir  John  Stirling-Max- 
well at  the  general  meet- 
ing of  the  Society  for  the 
Protection  of  Ancient 
Buildings  deserves  the 
careful  attention  of  all  who  are  interested  in 
a  subject  of  which  the  importance  year  by 
year  is  being  more  widely  and  completely 
realized.  Since  the  publication  of  Pro- 
fessor Baldwin  Brown's  admirable  summary 
of  the  steps  taken  by  other  countries  for 
the  preservation  of  their  historic  monu- 
ments/ no  one  has  had  the  slightest  excuse 
for  not  knowing  how  much  might  be  done 
to  forward  the  society's  admirable  work. 

Sir  John  Stirling-Maxwell's  suggestions, 
however,  have  a  particular  significance  at 
the  moment,  from  the  fact  that  the  Prime 
Minister  has  announced  that  a  Royal  Com- 
mission will  be  appointed  to  report  on  the 
preservation     of    ancient     monuments    in 
Great  Britain.      The  suggestions  involve  : 
(i)  The  creation  of  a  central  perma- 
nent monument  commission  for  each  of 
the  three  kingdoms,  to  draw  up  a  register 
of  national    monuments,    and    then    to 
protect  them  with  the  help  of  a  staff  of 
architects  and  inspectors,  supported  by 
a  Government  grant ; 

(ii)  The  creation  of  a  county  monu- 
ment   commission    for   each  county,  to 
work  on  similar  lines. 
Whether  the  institution  of  a  large  per- 
manent official  staff,  which  in  one  way  or 
another   these   suggestions    involve,  comes 
within   the   range   of  practical  politics  at 
the  present  time  would  be  open  to  ques- 
tion, even  if  the  proposal  were  unaccom- 
panied by  any  request  for  a  modest  grant  of 
money  in  addition  to  the  salaries.       In  its 
present    form    it    appears   rather   imprac- 

'See  The  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  viii.  pp.  43*^-7  (March, 
1906). 


Thb  Burlington  Magazine,  No.  65.    VoL  Xlll— August,  1908. 


W 


ARTICLES 
ANCIENT  BUILDINGS  cf^ 

ticable  at  a  time  when  money  is  wanted 
for  so  many  other  purposes  which  must 
make  a  much  larger  appeal  to  the  popular 
imagination.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
discuss  at  present  whether  the  creation  of 
a  bureaucracy,  however  sensibly  managed, 
is  the  best  means  of  preserving  our  ancient 
monuments  from  the  speculator,  the  vandal 
or  the   dunce. 

One  exceedingly  practical  piece  of  work 
has  already  been  carried  through  by 
the  Societv  for  the  Protection  of  Ancient 
Buildings.  The  committee  has  issued 
through  Mr.  Batsford,  at  the  price  of 
eighteenpence,  an  admirable  little  volume 
of  '  Notes  on  the  Repair  of  Ancient 
Buildings,'  which,  though  necessarily  brief, 
is  as  clear  and  precise  as  such  a  thing 
well  could  be.  Not  only  does  it  include 
general  questions  of  treatment,  but  it  goes 
carefully  into  details  of  structure  and 
timber-work,  so  that  where  the  services 
of  a  trained  architect  are  not  available  it 
can  be  understood  by  an  intelligent  mason. 
The  great  advantage  of  such  a  publication 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  can  in  a  moment  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  any  owner  who 
contemplates  restoring  an  old  building, 
and  can  leave  him  under  no  misapprehen- 
sion as  to  the  best  way  of  doing  the  work. 

The  difficulty  is  to  find  the  owners  and 
the  buildings  at  the  critical  moment,  and 
here  the  support  of  a  Royal  Commission 
might  augment  immeasurably  the  society's 
usefulness.  At  present  it  seems  to  be 
prevented  by  want  of  funds  from  prepar- 
ing any  proper  record  of  the  ancient 
buildinps  and  monuments  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  Such  a  register  is  a  necessary 
basis  for  subsequent  action,  and  if  the 
Royal  Commission  does  no  more  than  assist 
the  experience  and  entlnisiasm  of  the 
society  in  this  single  undertaking,  it  will 
have  gone  hv  to  solve  a  difficult  problem. 

251 


The  Preservation  of  Ancient  Buildings 

We  feel  strongly  that  the  case  is  one  where  quarters,  and  on  that  account  the  Prime 
unofficial  action  will  work  best,  if  only  it  Minister's  announcement  is  specially  wel- 
can  be  assured  of  proper  support  at  head-         come. 

THE   AFFAIRS  OF   THE  NATIONAL  GALLERY  : 
<u*^  A  CORRECTION   cu> 


"HEN  discussing  last 
month  the  present 
condition  of  affairs  at 
fthe  National  Gallery, 
the  practical  wisdom 
of  Lord  Rosebery's 
Treasury  Minute  was  questioned,  but  it 
was  not  till  the  magazine  had  gone  to 
press  that  we  were  authoritatively  in- 
formed : 

(i)  That  there  is  nothing  in  the  Trea- 
sury Minute  to  suggest  that  anything  more 
than  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
Trustees  present  at  any  properly  convened 
meeting  is  necessary  to  sanction  a  purchase  ; 
(2)  That  in  cases  of  emergency  the 
Director  is  free  to  make  purchases  on  his 
own  responsibility. 

This  statement  will,  we  believe,  be  news 
even  to  those  who  are  not  wholly  ill-in- 
formed as  to  the  difficulties  surrounding 
the  administration  of  the  National  Gallery, 
and  is  the  more  perplexing  in  that  it  by 
no  means  accords  with  the  actual  experi- 
ences of  those  who  from  time  to  time 
have  been  in  correspondence  with  that 
institution.  We  publish  the  information 
gladly,    both    to    make    amends    for    any 


injustice  that  may  have  been  done  in  our 
former  note,  and  also  because  it  seems  to 
imply  that  the  Director  is  legally  in  a  far 
stronger  position  than  is  generally  thought. 

At  the  same  time  such  a  condition  of 
affairs  cannot  be  regarded  as  satisfactory. 
The  administration  of  the  National  Gal- 
lery has  become  a  matter  of  serious  public 
interest,  and  the  public  might  not  unreason- 
ably claim  that  it  had  a  right  to  know 
what  the  exact  wording  of  the  Treasury 
Minute  was,  and  how  it  comes  about  that 
the  official  status  of  the  Director  and  the 
Trustees  was  so  long  allowed  to  be  univer- 
sally misunderstood. 

The  appointment  of  a  new  Trustee  in 
the  place  of  Sir  T.  D.  Gibson-Carmichael, 
would  in  any  case  be  a  matter  of  some 
difficulty.  At  the  present  juncture  it  is 
likely  to  be  scrutinized  with  more  than 
usual  care.  We  trust  the  Government  will 
recognize  how  anomalous  a  situation  has 
gradually  been  created,  and,  while  making 
the  choice  without  political  fear  or  per- 
sonal favour,  will  couple  with  it  some  relief 
from  a  condition  of  affairs  which  is  the 
reverse  of  creditable  to  our  national  reputa- 
tion for  plain  dealing  and  common  sense. 


A  BRONZE  BUST  OF  COMMODUS 
^  BY  CECIL  H.   SMITH  c^ 


HEX  Attila,  the 'Scourge 
of  God,'  died,  the  course 
of  the  river  Danube  was 
diverted  in  order  that  in  its 
bed  a  suitable  sepulchre 
might  be  found  for  him. 
One  wonders  whether 
what  was  possible  for  the 
Hunnish  warriors  is  not  equally  possible  for  Italian 

252 


engineers.  If  only  the  Tiber,  at  least  that  little 
stretch  of  it  on  which  Rome  stands,  could  be  run 
dry  and  made  to  give  up  its  treasures,  what  a  store 
of  art  and  history  should  be  revealed  to  us  1  The 
river  was  always  a  convenient  dumping-place  for 
things  as  well  as  persons  that  were  unconsidered, 
or  that  had  in  the  turn  of  fortune  lost  consideration. 
There  must  have  been  thousands  of  such  cases 
um"ecorded,  not  to  speak  of  the  historical  instances 


IIKUNZK     ISUST   OF  THK     KMPENliR   COMMOIILS    AND    HUONZE    llASE 
(t-;;vi/    A.l>.  I.S6-:92l   1\   THE   CDI.I.ECTldX    OE    MR.  llEORCil'    sAl.TlNIi 


^> 


A    URCINVE    liLST   clE    CUMMOUl'S 


known  to  us ;  and  especially  of  the  emperors  who 
were  discredited  after  death,  the  memorials  must 
often  have  found  their  way  thither. 

Though  we  have  not  yet  recovered  from  its 
bed  (where  tradition  reports  that  it  lies)  the  famous 
golden  candlestick  from  the  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
we  do  occasionally  obtain  from  it  objects  of 
important  historical  interest,  whereof  the  bronzes 
here  published  bear  witness. 

They  represent  the  bust  of  a  bearded  man  in  a 
Phrygian  cap  and  dress,  0.24  m.  high,  which  is 
placed  upon  a  moulded  basedecorated  with  a  subject 
in  relief.  Both  were  found  in  the  Tiber,  and  belonged 
formerly  to  the  Martinetti  collection.  They  were 
offered  recently  to  the  British  Museum,  but  as  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Department  happens  to  be  even 
more  than  usually  short  of  funds,  they  have  been 
purchased  by  Mr.  George  Salting,  who  has  kindly 
allowed  me  to  publish  them  here.  It  is  hoped  that 
they  may  eventually  find  their  way  to  the  National 
Collection. 

I  am  informed  by  the  recent  owner  that  there  is 
some  doubt  whether  the  base  belongs  to  the  bust 
as  here  shown.  He  tells  me  that  other  bases  of 
similar  character  were  also  found  with  the  bust. 
Whether  this  is  so  or  not,  I  think  it  will  be  agreed 
that,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  the  two  seem 
well  adapted  to  form  one  composition  :  the  bold 
and  spirited  modelling  of  the  bust  finds  an  excellent 
foil  in  the  graceful  genre  scene  and  delicate  orna- 
ments of  the  base.  Moreover,  we  know  that  in  the 
Roman  period  it  was  usual  to  mount  portrait  busts 
on  bases  of  this  form,  and  not  only  do  both  bronzes 
show  adhering  to  the  back  a  river  deposit  of  identical 
character,  but  the  patination  is  the  same  on  both, 
and  the  peculiar  deep-coloured  gilding  which  is 
still  preserved  over  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
bust  is  traceable  also  here  and  there  on  the  base. 

One  peculiar  feature  of  the  bronzes  thus  recov- 
ered from  the  Tiber  is  the  state  of  their  preservation, 
which,  contrary  to  what  we  should  expect,  is  usually 
excellent.  The  bronzes  here  published  are  no  excep- 
tion to  this  rule ;  except  for  some  discoloration,  and 
an  occasional  light  green  patch  showing  that  decay 
is  now  at  work,  the  surface  is  in  admirable  order. 

The  bust  is  that  of  a  man  of  about  thirty  years 
of  age,  with  rich  curling  hair  and  beard  ;  the  type 
is  evidently  idealized,  but  the  features,  and  especi- 
ally the  somewhat  large  and  prominent  eyes,  mark 
it  unmistakably  as  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor 
Commodus.  We  are  reminded  of  the  description 
given  of  him  by  Herodian  when  he  ascended  the 
throne  at  the  age  of  nineteen — '  Commodus,  then 
in  the  bloom  of  manhood,  possessed  a  form  which 
was  rendered  attractive  by  the  symmetry  of  his 
limbs  and  the  manly  beauty  of  his  features.  His 
look  was  friendly,  but  full  of  fire  ;  his  hair  was 
naturally  blond  and  curly,  so  that,  when  the  sun- 
shine fell  upon  it,  it  gleamed  as  though  strewn 
with    gold    dust.'     It    is   sad    to   find,  however, 


^  Bronze  Bust  of  Qommodus 

that  a  less  friendly  critic  (Lampridius)  puts 
the  same  facts  in  a  less  flattering  fashion  ;  he 
asserts  that  the  emperor  let  his  hair  and  beard 
grow,  because  he  was  afraid  to  trust  himself  to  the 
barber's  razor,  and  suggests  that  the  gleaming 
radiance  of  his  hair  was  due  to  the  application  of 
powdered  gold. 

Whichever  story  is  correct,  we  may  see  a  reflec- 
tion of  what  was  actually  the  case  in  the  fact  that 
the  hair  and  beard  in  the  bronze  have  originally 
been  entirely  gilded ;  probably,  however,  the 
gilding  was  not  due  merely  to  the  desire  to  repro- 
duce nature,  because  it  has  been  extended  not 
only  over  the  hair  but  over  the  dress  and  (as  we 
have  seen)  over  the  base  as  well. 

As  a  study  of  character,  the  bust  is  finely  con- 
ceived ;  the  features  have  the  symmetrical  beauty 
recorded  by  the  historian,  and  there  is  a  certain 
spirited  vigour  in  the  look,  which  was  probably 
still  more  marked  when  the  silver  inlay  of  the 
eyes  was  untarnished.  But,  withal,  it  is  the  face 
of  such  a  one  as  we  know  Commodus  to  have 
been  ;  the  mouth  is  small  and  weak,  and  the 
features  betray  both  sell-indulgence  and  egotism. 
One  can  easily  understand  this  man  posing  as  a 
god  in  public  shows,  but  allowing  others  to  rule 
for  him,  while  he  indulged  his  vanity  with  useless 
accomplishments  and  unrestrained  vices. 

When  one  thinks  of  the  author  of  the  '  Reflec- 
tions,' and  realizes  that  the  only  encomium 
history  has  found  for  his  son  is  that  he  'excelled 
in  shooting  and  manual  dexterity,'  the  tragedy  of 
Commodus's  career  is  thrown  into  striking  relief. 
Dio  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  '  of  all  the  evils 
which  befell  the  Romans,  none  was  more  baneful 
than  the  rule  of  Commodus.' 

The  Phrygian  cap  which  he  wears  in  the  bronze 
is  ornamented  with  stars.  These  are  engraved 
and  have  silver  centres,  with  the  rays  filled  with 
niello.  (Besides  these  star  centres,  and  the  eyes, 
the  sleeve  buttons  also  are  silvered).  This  fact, 
taken  in  connexion  with  the  gilding,  make  it 
certain  that  the  dress  is  that  of  a  solar  deity,  and 
that  we  have  the  emperor  here  represented  in  the 
guise  of  Mithras.  We  know  from  history  that 
Commodus  counted  among  his  favourite  foibles 
that  of  posing  as  various  deities,  and  the  fancy 
seems  to  have  grown  upon  him  as  he  grew  older. 
At  the  age  of  thirty,  Dio  tells  us,  he  appeared  as 
Mercury  in  the  gladiatorial  games,  and  we  know, 
too,  that  his  favourite  vole  was  that  of  Hercules  ; 
he  assumed  the  title  of  '  Hercules  Komanus,'  and 
appeared  in  public  with  the  club  and  lion-skin, 
and  is  thus  represented  on  coins,  as  well  as  in 
statues  and  busts.  The  best  example  of  the  latter 
is  the  well-known  marble  bust  in  the  Palazzo  dei 
Conservatori  in  Rome,  which  stands,  like  ours, 
on  a  richly  decorated  base,  and  offers  llie  best 
analogy  to  it. 

So  far  as  I  know,  no  other  example  has  come 


255 


A  Bronze  Bust  of  Qommodus 

down  to  us  of  this  emperor  in  the  guise  of 
Mithras ;  but  we  know  that  it  was  a  cult  which 
found  especial  favour  in  his  eyes  ;  when  he  was 
fourteen  years  old  he  travelled  with  his  father  in 
Syria  and  Egypt,  and  to  this  journey,  and  the  effect 
it  may  have  had  on  his  youthful  imagination,  may 
partly  be  due  the  fact  that  as  emperor  he  was 
attached  to  the  cults  of  Mithras  and  of  Isis.  We 
are  further  told  by  Dio  that  in  Rome  there  was  set 
up  in  his  honour  a  statue  (presumably  of  the  sun- 
god)  made  from  a  thousand  pounds  of  gold,  with 
a  bull  and  a  cow  at  its  feet.  The  connexion  of 
the  bull  and  cow  with  the  sun-god  is  not  very 
clear,  unless  we  may  suppose  that  it  has  some 
reference  (possibly  misunderstood  by  the  historian) 
to  the  bull  which  figures  so  promuiently  in  the 
Mithras  cult;  at  any  rate,  we  know  that  Commodus 
played  a  considerable  part  in  making  the  Syrian 
solar  worship  popular  in  Rome  :  he  was  himself 
initiated  into  its  mysteries,  and  his  example  was 
followed  by  most  of  the  patrician  class  in  Rome. 

The  fact  is  historically  interesting  in  view  of  the 
bearing  which  Mithraism  in  the  second  and  third 
centuries  of  our  era  had  on  Christianity.   The  case 
has  been  put  by  Renan  ('  Marc-Aurele,'  p.  579) : 
'Si  le  Christianisme  eiit  ete  arrets  dans  sa  crois- 
sance  par  quelque  maladie  mortelle,  le  monde  eut 
ete  Mithraiste' — a  strong  statement,  but  not  too 
strong  in  the  light  of  the  facts.     The  first  part  of 
the  second  century  had  seen  the  growth  of  the 
neo-Platonic     philosophy     and     the    concurrent 
attempt  to  revive  the  old  religion.     It  would  seem 
that  this  was  no  mere  artificial  movement  of  the 
upper  and  the  cultivated  classes  ;  it  coincided  with, 
and  in  some  degree  sprung  from  the  vague  desire 
which  was  stirring  in  all  men's  minds  for  a  higher 
principle  of  conduct.     The  State  theology  which 
had  satisfied  Republican  Rome,  and  which  Marcus 
Aurelius  attempted  to  revive,  no  longer  satisfied 
the  Romans  of  the  Empire.    Already  the  extended 
campaigns  of  the  legions  had  brought  once  more 
the  religions  of  the  East  to  the  lower  classes  of  the 
conquering  race — for,  like  Christianity,  Mithraism 
found    first   its   converts    among    the   poor   and 
humble.     In  the  second  century  it  took  the  upper 
ranks  also  by  storm.   As  Dill  says  in  his  admirable 
'  Roman    Society '  :    '  Pure  from  all  grossness   of 
myth,    the    Persian    god   of    light    came   as   the 
mediator  and  comforter,  to  soothe  the  poor  and 
broken-hearted,   and   give   the   cleansing   of    the 
mystic  blood.     His  hierarchy  of  the  initiated,  his 
soothing  symbolic  sacraments,  his  gorgeous  ritual, 
and   his   promise   of    immortality   to   those   who 
drank  the  mystic  Haoma,  gratified  and  stimulated 
religious  longings  which  were   to  find   their  full 
satisfaction  in  the  ministry  of  the  Church.'     No 
wonder  that  the  early   Christians   regarded  with 
jealous  suspicion  a  religion  which  thus  fought  them 
with   their   own   weapons ;    it   was   no   longer   a 
decaying  and  worn-out  Paganism  that  confronted 

256 


them,  but  a  vigorous  faith,  adapted  to  the  needs 
of  the  age,  catholic  in  its  application  to  the  differ- 
ent ranks  of  society  and  the  various  nationalities 
of  the  Empire,  elastic  enough  to  absorb  the  best 
features  of  existing  cults  ;  it  was  this  very  tolera- 
tion, as  opposed  to  the  uncompromising  tenets 
of  its  rival,  that  proved  in  the  end  fatal  to 
Mithraism. 

It  may  seem  odd  that  a  religious  community 
so  spiritual  and  refined  as  the  Mithraists  should 
have  borne  patiently  the  travesty  of  incarnation 
of  their  god  in  a  person  so  contemptible  as  that 
of  Commodus  :  the  explanation  is  to  be  sought  in 
the  history  of  the  imperial  cultus.  In  the  province 
of  Asia  particularly  we  know  that  the  nurture  of 
the  imperial  idea — what  we  should  now  call 
patriotism  or  imperialism — was  part  of  the  care- 
fully planned  scheme  of  the  Roman  political 
organization.  It  is  reflected  in  the  claim  by  Paul 
of  Tarsus  as  a  Roman  citizen.  Professor  Ramsay 
in  his  'Cities  and  Bishoprics  of  Phrygia '  (I,  i, 
p.  53)  has  shown  how  the  process  started  from  the 
conjoined  worship  of  the  leading  local  deity  with 
the  emperor ;  already  in  B.C.  29  we  have  (at 
Nicaea,  for  instance)  the  identification  of  the  hero 
Caesar  with  the  cult  of  the  god  Men  or  Sabazios, 
who  wears  a  Phrygian  cap  and  rides  on  a  horse. 
From  this  starting-point  it  was  a  natural  transition 
to  the  deification  of  the  emperor  in  the  guise  of 
the  god  ;  but  in  such  a  case  we  are  dealing  less 
with  the  personality  of  the  emperor  than  with  the 
idea  for  which  he  stood — and  from  this  point  of 
view  even  Commodus  was  '  Rome.' 

There  is  also  another  feature  of  ancient  religion 
which  must  be  borne  in  mind  if  we  would  under- 
stand the  apparent  paradox  of  our  bronze  bust. 
From  the  earliest  times  it  was  a  commonplace  of 
Greek  religion  that  the  chief  ministrant  of  the 
deity  should  on  festal  occasions  assume  the  dress 
and  attributes  of  the  deity  ;  and  since  the  emperor, 
in  virtue  of  his  rank,  was  Pontifex  Maximus,  the 
appearance  of  Commodus  as  Mithras  would  have 
suggested  to  Roman  eyes  nothing  unnatural  or 
unseemly. 

Commodus  was  murdered  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one,  in  the  last  hours  of  the  year  192.  After  his 
death,  his  memory  was  execrated  and  his  effigies 
destroyed.  Probably  the  Salting  bronze  was  thrown 
into  the  Tiber  at  this  time,  or  soon  after  ;  at  any 
rate,  it  is  unlikely  that  it  can  have  been  modelled 
at  any  subsequent  date.'  The  portrait  represents 
a  man  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  years  of  age.' 
We  thus  have  a  limit  of  the  years  186-192  as  the 
limit  of  date  within  which  this  bronze  must 
fall.  I  need  hardly  insist  on  the  interest  in  the 
1  It  is  true  that  in  197  Alexander  Sevenis  compelled  the  Senate  to 
consecrate  Commodus,  but  it  is  improbable  tliat  if  further  statues 
were  erected  in  his  honour  they  would  have  taken  this  form. 

■^The  length  of  the  beard  marks  it  as  falling  into  the  second 
class  of  the  bearded  portraits  (see  Bernoulli,  '  Icon.  Rom. 
2  p.  238),  and  therefore  presumably  later  than  185  a.d. 


history  of  art  which  is  presented  by  a  bronze 
of  this  importance,  dateable  within  such  narrow 
hmits. 

The  bust  has  the  same  slight  turn  to 
the  right  which  characterizes  the  best-authen- 
ticated portraits  of  this  emperor.  Tiie  moustache 
has  the  strong  downward  turn  at  the  angles 
which  is  shown  more  clearly  in  the  coins  than 
in  the  marbles  ;  the  hair  and  beard  have 
the  same  rendering  in  crisp  detached  curls, 
which  in  the  bronze  treatment  becomes  more 
definitely  marked.  On  the  other  hand,  the  nose 
is  straighter  in  profile  than  the  other  portraits 
would  lead  one  to  expect  ;  this  may  partly  be  due 
to  the  obvious  intention  of  the  artist  to  idealize 
his  type,  and  which  has  led  him  in  the  treatment 
of  the  beard  to  imitate  what  is  probably  the  type 
which  Pheidias  created  for  his  Olympian  Zeus  ;  in 
general  character  it  has  a  certain  similarity  to  the 
beard  of  the  Melos  head  of  Zeus  in  the  British 
Museum,  which  has  been  rightly  associated  with 
the  Pheidian  type.  As  that  type  came  to  be 
adopted  for  the  later  heads  of  Serapis,  it  may  have 
been  intentionally  selected  as  suggesting  a  syn- 
cretism of  Serapis  with  Mithras,  which  would 
have  been  appropriate  to  the  personality  of 
Commodus.^ 

The  most  characteristic  feature  in  the  portraits 
of  Commodus  is  the  heav^  overhanging  upper 
eyelid,  a  peculiarity  which  he  evidently  inherited 
from  his  father.  At  first  sight  this  feature  would 
appear  to  be  wanting  in  the  bronze,  but  it  is  not 
really  the  case.  A  close  inspection  shows  that  the 
upper  lid  of  both  eyes  was  originally  indicated  by 

^For  a  later  instance  of  the  identification  of  Jupiter  Serapis 
with  the  Sun,  see  the  altar  of  the  Capitol  dedicated  by  the  augur 
Scipio  Orfitus  to  Jupiter  Maxiraus  Sol  Serapis (C. I. L.  vi,  402). 


A  Bronze  Bust  of  Qommodus 

a  thin  layer  of  bronze  ;  this  has  now  almost  wholly 
perished  by  oxydization,  but  the  lower  edge  can 
still  be  traced  in  a  line  which  it  has  left  in  the 
surface  of  the  sih^er  used  for  the  whites  of  the  eyes. 
This  line  runs  across  the  hole  which  is  drilled  for 
the  eyeball,  and  thus  proves  that  when  the  bust 
was  uninjured  the  characteristic  feature  was  as 
strongly  marked  in  this  example  as  in  any  of  the 
portraits  known  to  us. 

The  little  genre  scene  on  the  base  is  just  one  of 
those  simple  rustic  subjects  which  we  now  recog- 
nize as  an  outcome  of  Augustan  art;  it  is  the  kind 
of  motive  which  was  popular  in  the  gems  and  wall 
paintings  of  the  Augustan  period,  and  is  charac- 
terized by  a  dainty  arcadian  naturalism  in  which 
the  idyllic  subject  is  handled  with  a  certain  sense 
of  humour.  Perhaps  the  best  parallel  is  afforded 
by  the  relief  on  the  Lateran  fountain  (Mrs.  Strong, 
'  Roman  Sculpture,'  p.  82),  in  which  Pan  and  a 
goat  also  figure.  Here  Pan,  the  goatherd,  is 
milking  a  she-goat  in  a  shady  grove,  while  a  sheep 
sits  by,  placidly  chewing  the  cud.  The  artist's 
sense  of  humour  and  his  observation  of  nature  are 
shown  in  the  characteristically  contrasted  attitudes 
of  the  two  animals — the  goat,  as  ever,  bold  and 
inquisitive,  looks  round  at  the  sprite-like  litde 
herd  ;  the  sheep  sits  all  unmoved,  placidly  gazing 
into  vacancy.  The  charming  Greek  leaf  pattern 
in  low  relief  which  borders  the  scene  above  and 
below  shows  a  welcome  return  to  simplicity  after 
the  Flavian  tendency  to  over-elaboration  of  orna- 
ment— a  simplicity  which  admirably  harmonizes 
with  the  figure  subject.  Assuming,  as  I  think  we 
may,  that  the  base  is  contemporary  with  the  bust, 
it  is  interesting  to  know  that  in  the  period  of 
Commodus  so  much  of  the  Augustan  spirit  still 
survived. 


MING  BOWL  WITH  SILVER-GILT  MOUNTS  OF  THE 


<A.  TUDOR 

THE  BOWL 

HE  fine  large  bowl  of  Chinese 
blue  and  white  porcelain  illus- 
trated in  the  accompanying 
plate  is  now  on  exhibition  in 
the  rooms  of  Messrs.  Owen 
Grant  and  Co.,  Ltd.,  at  11 
Kensington  Square,  where  it 
has  been  my  privilege  to 
examine  it.  It  figures  as  the  most  important  piece 
in  a  collection  of  old  oriental  porcelain  which  was 
inherited  by  the  present  owner  from  Francis  Gwyn, 
Esq.,  of  Llansannor,  Glamorgan,  and  Forde  Abbey, 
Dorset,  who  was  born  in  1648,  was  Groom  of  the 
Bedchamber  to  Charles  11,  Clerk  of  the  Council, 
Under-Secretary  of  State  and  Secretary  of  War  to 
Queen  Anne,  and  who  died  in  1734.  It  is  chiefly 
remarkable  for  its  artistic  silver-gilt  mounting  of 


PERIOD  c^ 

tazza  shape,  which,  although  not  actually  hall- 
marked, is  referred  from  the  technique  and  cha- 
racter of  the  goldsmith's  work  to  the  Tudor  period, 
circa  1575.  The  ceramic  qualities  of  the  bowl 
itself  certainly  confirm  the  date ;  the  glaze  is  of 
the  rich  liquescent  tone  which  characterizes  the 
reigns  of  Lung  Ch'ing  and  Wan  Li  (1567-1619), 
imbued  with  the  usual  slight  tinge  of  green  that 
harmonizes  so  well  with  the  soft  blue  of  the 
decoration.  It  is  the  largest  and  most  imposing 
mounted  piece  of  the  kind  that  has  been  noticed, 
the  height  being  9^  in.,  the  diameter  of  the  base 
7  in.,  and  the  circumference  46  in.  Before  pro- 
ceeding to  its  detailed  description  a  summary 
account  of  some  other  examples  of  early  Chinese 
porcelain  authenticated  by  similar  mounts  of  the 
Tudor  period  may  not  be  without  interest. 

The  earliest  specimens  of  the  kind  known    in 
England  are  probably  the  Trenchard  bowls  referred 


■S7 


Ming  Bowl  with  a  Tudor  Mount 


to  in  Hutchins's  '  History  of  Dorset,'  which  are 
said  to  have  been  presented,  in  the  year  1506, 
by  Philip  of  Austria  and  Joan  to  Sir  Thomas 
Trenchard,  the  High  Sheriff,  after  they  had  been 
entertained  by  him  at  his  house  at  Wolveton. 
They  are  still  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant  of 
the  family,  a  pair  of  8-in.  bowls  painted  in  blue 
with  nclumbium  lotus  flowers  and  fish,  the  mounts 
bearing  London  hall-marks  inside,  of  a  date  some 
forty  years  later  than  Iving  Philip's  visit  to  Wey- 
mouth. One  of  the  Trenchard  bowls  is  figured  in 
W.  G.  Gulland's  '  Chinese  Porcelain,'  Vol.  ii. 
No.  4S7,  in  company  with  a  contefnporary  piece 
of  some  celebrity,  the  Warham  bowl  (No.  488),  a 
little  celadon  cup,  5  in.  across,  in  a  silver-gilt 
setting,  which  was  presented  to  New  College, 
Oxford,  by  Archbishop  Warham  (1504-1532). 

Five  interesting  pieces  of  this  class  are  illustrated 
in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  handbook  of 
'  Chinese  Art.'  An  octagonal  melon-shaped  wine 
pot  (fig.  20),  decorated  in  blue  with  Chinese  boys 
playing  and  conjuring,  is  mounted  in  Elizabethan 
silver-gilt  with  hall-marks  of  the  year  1585.  The 
other  four  pieces  (figs.  21-24),  also  with  Eliza- 
bethan mounts,  now  belong  to  Mr.  Pierpont 
Morgan,  and  are  exhibited  on  loan  at  the  museum. 
They  were  shown  at  the  Burlington  Fine  Arts 
Club  in  1895,  and  are  described  in  the  '  Catalogue 
of  Blue  and'White  Oriental  Porcelain,'  printed  at 
the  time,  as  coming  from  Burghley  House,  where 
they  had  been  in  the  possession  of  the  Cecil  family 
from  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  ewer 
(fig.  21),  artistically  painted  in  soft  blue  with  birds 
and  flowers,  is  mounted  with  a  silver-gilt  base,  six 
bands  formed  as  wreaths  with  cherubs'  heads  in 
relief,  a  band  round  the  neck,  with  lip  and  lid 
surmounted  with  three  dolphins,  and  a  handle 
formed  of  a  mermaid  with  a  double-twisted  tail,  all 
in  silver-gilt.  The  last  of  these  four  pieces — a 
bowl  (fig.  24)  decorated  with  floral  sprays  and 
imperial  phoenixes  pencilled  in  typical  Ming  style 
— has  the  mark  Wan  Li  (1573-1619)  inscribed 
under  the  foot ;  the  rest  are  unmarked,  but  are 
unmistakable  examples  of  the  ceramic  style  of  the 
same  reign. 

Less  known  than  the  above,  but  no  less  interest- 
ing, are  two  mounted  pieces  of  Ming  porcelain  in 
the  Gold  Room  of  the  British  Museum  :  a  Chinese 
bowl  of  fine  technique,  decorated  in  blue  in  four 
panelswith  jars  of  lotus  flowers  and  egrets,  mounted 
in  English  silver-gilt  with  an  Elizabethan  hall- 
mark ;  and  another  with  a  celadon  ground  outside 
pencilled  over  in  gold  with  running  floral  scrolls, 
set  in  a  German  mount  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
It  seems  to  be  becoming  the  fashion  to  decry  the 
Ming  period  as  '  primitive,'  and  to  ascribe  its  more 
delicate  ceramic  productions  to  a  later  date, '  so 
that  it  is  well  to  be  able  to  point  to  occasional 
early  pieces,  like  the  above,  authenticated  by 
mounts  of  contemporary  date. 

258 


But  it  IS  time  to  turn  to  our  own  bowl,  which 
contrasts  especially  with  the  foregoing  in  its  larger 
dimensions.  It  is  a  typical  hio  ivaii,  or  '  fruit 
bowl,'  of  the  Chinese,  intended  to  be  placed  on  a 
dining-table  piled  up  with  slices  of  mixed  fruits,  to 
which  the  guests  help  themselves  with  silver  forks, 
or  occasionally  filled  with  live  gold-fish  swimming 
in  water.  The  technical  details  and  style  of  brush- 
work  are  those  of  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of 
Wan  Li  (1573-1619),  and  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
bowl  is  not  much  older  than  its  mount. 

The  decoration,  outside,  is  arranged  in  six  panels 
of  foliated  outline,  framed  with  a  ribbon  scroll 
running  round  the  rim  and  stretching  down  the 
sides,  the  intervals  being  filled  in  with  narrow 
bands,  bordered  alternately  with  svastika  scroll- 
work and  scale  pattern,  displaying  pcnddoqncs  of 
yin-yaiig  symbols  of  light  and  darkness  hung  with 
strings  of  beads.  The  six  foliated  panels  contain, 
passing  in  Chinese  fashion  from  right  to  left  : — 

(i)  A  dragon  of  old  bronze  design  {chili  liiiig), 
with  lizard-like  body  and  bifid  tail,  winding 
through  sprays  of  Polyponis  liicUliis,  the  sacred 
fungus  of  longevity. 

(2)  A  pair  of  butterflies  flying  in  the  midst  of 
flowers  and  berried  shrubs. 

(3)  A  phoenix  [fcng  liiiang)  enveloped  in  scrolls 
of  clouds. 

(4)  A  nelumbium  lotus,  with  blossom,  buds 
and  shield-shaped  leaves,  together  with  other 
water  plants. 

(5)  A  bird  perched  upon  a  rockery,  from  which 
spring  asters  and  other  flowers,  with  its  mate 
flying  down  from  the  left. 

(6)  A  wild  goose  on  the  bank  of  a  lake,  with 
lotus  and  other  flowers  in  the  background. 

The  interior  of  the  bowl  is  decorated  round  the 
sides  with  six  panels  of  foliated  outline  filled 
alternately  with  leafy  branches  of  peaches,  the 
fruit  of  life  of  the  Taoists,  and  sprays  of  peach 
blossom,  separated  by  narrow  panels  displaying 
pcnddoqncs  of  y/;;-jan^  symbols  like  those  outside. 
The  bottom  of  the  bowl,  inside,  is  filled  with  a 
large  circular  double-ringed  medallion  containing 
antique  emblems  [po  hi),  including  a  palm  leaf  in 
the  centre,  surrounded  by  a  vase  decorated  with  a 
single  prunus  blossom,  silken  tassels  tied  with 
knotted  cords,  sprays  of  peaches  encircled  by 
foliage,  and  branches  of  sacred  fungus. 

The  treatment  of  the  birds  and  flowers  and  other 
details  of  the  decoration  is  not  too  realistic,  being 
freely  conventionalized  in  the  usual  decorative 
spirit  of  the  ceramic  art  of  the  period,  so  that  the 
bowl  is  not  altogether  unworthy  of  the  brave 
setting  with  which  it  is  ennobled. 

S.  W.  BUSHELL. 

II— THE   MOUNT 
The  unique  bowl  under  notice,  from  the  point 
of   view   of  the   student  of   English   goldsmiths' 


m^^m^^mM^M-rmmm^mmi^^^^^^^^^^ 


-i'  Tv. .,  ,f^)i'.t*y 


MIXG    BOWL   WITH   SILVER   CILT   MOINTS   (JF    IHt   TUIJOU 
PERIOD.      OX   VIEW   AT    MESSRS.   OWEN   GRANT'S,    LTD. 


Ming  Bowl  with  a  Tudor  Mount 


work,  ranks  next  in  importance  to  the  remarkable 
set  of  Chinese  porcelain  vessels — three  bowls  of 
different  sizes  and  a  bottle,  with  English  silver-gilt 
mounts  of  about  1585 — acquired  by  Mr.  J.  Pier- 
pont  Morgan  from  the  Marquis  of  Exeter's  sale 
in  1888,  now  on  loan  at  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  and  figured  in  Dr.  Stephen  W.  Bushell's 
'Chinese  Art,'  Vol.  ii,  figs.  21,  22,  23  and  24.  The 
silver-gilt  mount  on  the  mouth  is  engraved  on  the 
top  side  with  the  conventional  strap-band  filled 
with  arabesques — a  familiar  feature  on  Elizabethan 
communion  cups — while  the  side  (overhanging)  is 
scalloped  and  incised  with  vertical  and  other  lines, 
which  are  also  common  features  of  the  period. 
The  bowl  is  supported  by  three  flat  and  jointed 


bands,  plain  in  the  centre,  with  scalloped  edges; 
it  rests  in  a  shallow  receptacle,  embellished  with  a 
band  formed  of  punched  hollows,  and  engraved 
along  the  top  with  a  series  of  chevron-like  orna- 
ments. This  receptacle  is  decorated  underneath 
with  a  band  of  small  scrolled  ornaments  in  very 
slight  relief.  The  large  spreading  foot,  which  has 
a  stamped  ovolo  edge,  is  covered  with  incised 
vertical  bands,  alternately  plain  and  matted,  in 
imitation  of  flutings,  and  not  unlike  the  flutings 
on  the  highly  interesting  tazza  of  1572-73,  and  the 
later  copy  of  1609-10,  at  Christ's  College,  Cam- 
bridge. Though  no  marks  appear  on  the  mounts, 
the  date  is  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  E.  Alfred  Jones. 


ENGLISH     ILLUMINATED     MANUSCRIPTS     AT     THE 

BURLINGTON    FINE    ARTS    CLUB 

^  BY  ROGER  E.   FRY  ^  ^k; 


F  the  exhibition  of  illuminated 
MBS.  presents  a  grave  difliculty 
owing  to  the  fact  that  only  two 
pages  out  of  a  whole  book  can 
be  shown,  this  difficulty  makes 
itself  felt  with  painful  force  to 
^■^^"the  critic  who  endeavours  to 
yr^fc^deduce  generalizations  from  such 


a  display  of  mediaeval  pictures  as  that  at  the 
Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club.  One  has  to  reflect 
that  each  book  is  usually  the  composite  work 
of  several  scribes  and  artists,  and  that  theories 
and  classifications  based  on  the  pictures  exhibited 
may  be  overthrown  by  some  contradictory  or  at 
least  diverse  appearances  that  the  turning  of  a  few 
pages  might  unfold.  The  critical  instinct  is  to  seek 
order  by  discrimination  and  generalization,  and 
this  is  constantly  baffled  by  the  frequent  and 
apparently  inexplicable  variations  which  the  illus- 
trations to  these  manuscripts  reveal.  In  the  same 
book  we  find  a  plodding  mechanic  hand  sharing  the 
labour  and  apparently  the  honour  with  a  creative 
genius.  Indeed,  one  wonders  at  times  whether, 
provided  the  book  was  richly  and  handsomely 
decorated,  the  patrons  and  the  public  of  mediaeval 
times  recognized  any  more  clearly  than  the  public 

'  Owing  to  his  recent  appointment  to  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum, 
Mr.  Sydney  Cockerell,  to  whose  knowledge  and  experience  the 
great  success  of  the  recent  exliibition  is  so  largely  due,  is  unable, 
as  was  hoped,  to  sum  up  the  results  obtained  by  this  remarkable 
collection  of  examples,  and  I  am  therelore  compelled,  since  it 
would  be  a  pity  ihat  they  should  go  unrecorded,  to  do  what  is 
possible  in  his  stead,  relying  on  him,  however,  for  much  infor- 
mation and  correction.  I  have  also  to  thank  the  owners  of  the 
MSS.  illustrated,  for  their  courteous  permission  to  reproduce 
them,  and  the  Committee  of  the  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club  for 
its  generosity  in  allowing  me  to  use  for  that  purpose  some  of 
the  photographs  by  XIr.  Emery  Walker,  prepared  for  the  forth- 
coming illustrated  catalogue  of  the  Exhibition. 

For  a  previous  article  see  The  Burlington  Magazin'p, 
Vol.  xiii,  p.  128  (June,  1908). 


of  to-day  the  difference  between  art  and  industry. 
And  surely,  what  one  may  call  a  decorative 
industry  tended  to  play  a  large  part  in  the 
illuminator's  activity  ;  the  borders  in  particular 
often  degenerating  into  a  mere  thoughtless  addi- 
tion of  decorative  elements  without  preconceived 
plan  or  idea  of  controlling  harmony.  The  artist 
emerges  constantly  from  this  general  level  of 
capable  but  insect-like  activity.  He  emerges, 
however,  as  often  as  not  without  any  particular 
consciousness  of  his  distinction,  and  works  on 
equal  terms  with  his  less  gifted  collaborators. 

These  difficulties  in  any  general  critical  survey 
are  increased  by  the  comparative  instability  of 
the  tradition  of  miniature  painting.  In  the 
French,  especially  the  Parisian  manuscripts,  we 
can,  it  is  true,  point  to  a  very  strong  traditional 
control  with  a  continuous  and  logical  developinent. 
From  Pucelle  to  Fouquet  each  step  can  be  traced 
with  some  certainty  and  accuracy,  somewhat  in 
the  manner  in  which  we  trace  the  story  of  Flemish 
or  Italian  painting  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

But  when  we  come  to  consider  the  English 
miniatures  we  are  helped  by  no  such  guiding 
lines,  and  what  has  been  true  of  the  story  oi 
painters  in  modern  England  is  true  of  these  early 
predecessors — namely,  tliat  art  tends  to  be  sporadic, 
highly  individualized  and  insubordinate  to  tradi- 
tional control,  and  these  characteristics  are 
specially  marked  when  we  compare  English  art 
with  that  of  France,  with  which  it  has  so  often 
come  into  relations  of  temporary  sympathy  or 
opposition. 

We  can,  nevertheless,  make  out  certain  centres  of 
the  illuminator's  art  where  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
time  the  various  artists  were  held  together  by  a 
common  tradition.  The  first,  and  in  some  ways 
the  greatest  of  all,  is  the  Anglo-Sa.\on  school  of 

261 


English  Illuminated  Manuscripts 


Winchester,  of  which  there  is  one  supreme 
example  lierc,  the  Benedictional  of  St.  Ethelwold 
(tenth  century),  with  which  may  be  compared  the 
Winchester  Vulgate  by  an  English  scribe  of  the 
twelfth  century.  Of  about  the  same  period  we 
have  a  centre  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds  marked  by  a 
vigorous,  rough  energy  which  is  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  exquisite  perfection  of  the  Win- 
chester productions.  The  later  Romanesque 
style  just  before  it  gives  place  to  the  early  Gothic 
is  found  in  its  finest  perfection  in  the  Psalter  (No. 
31)  written  in  an  Augustinian  house  in  the  diocese 
of  York,  a  work  which  by  its  perfection  points  to 
a  highly  cultivated  centre  of  artistic  tradition. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  Winchester  school 
with  its  Anglo-Saxon  traditions  has  waned,  Canter- 
bury takes  a  leading  place  and  keeps  in  closer 
touch  than  other  centres  with  the  rising  splendour 
of  the  Parisian  artists.  London  also  appears  as  a 
centre  at  this  time,  with  works  in  a  style  not  very 
different  from  Canterbury.  Bury  St.  Edmunds 
and  York  persist  as  places  of  origin,  and  works  of 
a  rather  distinct  style  can  be  traced  at  this  period 
to  Peterborough.  It  is,  however,  very  difficult  to  fix 
the  characteristics  of  the  works  from  various  places, 
as  may  be  seen  by  the  fact  that  in  default  of  any 
documentary  indications  it  has  been  found  im- 
possible to  determine  the  place  of  origin  of  the 
only  signed  work  of  this  period,  namely  the  Book 
of  Hours  (58)  and  the  Psalter  (59)  by  W.  de  Brailes. 

With  the  early  fourteenth  century  there  comes 
into  prominence  the  East  Anglian  school,  which 
has  for  the  short  period  of  its  existence  a  greater 
continuity  and  a  more  marked  consistency  than 
any  other.  The  Gorleston  and  St.  Omer  Psalters 
represented  this  at  the  exhibition.  Two  books 
of  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
Psalters  of  John  of  Gaunt  (72)  and  Humphrey 
de  Bohun  (73),  show  a  quite  distinct  and  peculiar 
style,  which  leaves  but  little  trace  on  subsequent 
developments.  It  may  be  supposed  from  the 
position  of  the  owners  at  court  to  have  had  a 
London  origin. 

With  the  fifteenth  century  the  English  art  of 
illumination,  which  has  hitherto  kept  more  or  less 
its  position  as  a  worthy  rival  to  the  French,  begins 
to  degenerate.  It  is  wanting  as  a  rule  both  in 
quantity  and  quality,  and  while  the  Limbourgs 
and  Fouquet  are  showing  in  illuminations  the 
future  possibilities  of  painting,  England  is  sinking 
into  a  period  of  artistic  decadence  and  eclipse. 
But  the  fading  glories  of  the  English  school  are 
illuminated  by  one  great  and  striking  original 
genius,  Thomas  Chaundler,  Chancellor  of  Oxford. 

Such  are  in  brief  the  main  cLissifications  of 
English  miniatures  which  the  exhibition  enables 
us  to  make.  We  will  consider  in  detail  a  few 
of  the  more  typical  examples.  It  is  not  a  little 
surprising  that  we  come  at  the  very  beginning 
of    our    period   in    the   Aldelmus   de    Virginitate 

262 


(No.  8),  upon  a  drawing  which  is  in  some  ways 
as  accomplished  as  anything  which  the  whole 
series  of  English  miniatures  "has  to  show.  The 
artist  who  drew  the  figures  of  St.  Hildelith, 
Abbess  of  Barking,  and  her  eight  attendant  nuns 
crowding  round  the  seated  St.  Aldhelm  to  receive 
from  him  his  book,  is  treating  a  subject  from 
actual  life  and  no  traditional  composition  with 
an  established  canon  of  placing  and  proportion, 
and  yet  he  composes  his  figures  in  an  admirable 
group  excellently  expressive,  in  its  general  rhythm 
and  in  the  particular  movements  of  the  figures,  of 
the  deferential  eagerness  of  these  pious  ladies. 
No  less  true  to  character  is  the  gracious  dignity 
of  the  Saint.  The  proportions  of  the  figure  are 
just,  and  the  line  displays  an  easy  mastery  even 
in  the  rendering  of  the  hands,  which  is  altogether 
remarkable.  It  is,  of  course,  stylistic,  almost  aca- 
demic drawing,  but  it  shows  no  trace  of  indeci- 
sion, no  experimental  uncouthness.  It  is  evident 
that  the  artist  had  inherited  a  highly  elaborated 
tradition,  one  which  furnished  him  with  the  means 
of  expressing  without  effort  not  only  the  forms  but 
the  many  various  and  complex  poses  of  the  figure. 
We  are  evidently  here,  in  tenth-century  England, 
far  from  anything  like  barbaric  ignorance.  One 
must  suppose,  to  account  for  such  an  advanced 
and  perfect  style,  that  the  results  of  the  Carolingian 
Renaissance  had  borne  fruit  in  England  and  that 
its  civilizing  influence  was  helped  by  the  existence, 
of  Byzantine  manuscripts.  The  English  copies' 
of  the  Utrecht  Psalter  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  copy* 
of  a  Byzantine  miniature  seen  in  No.  15  are 
indications  of  such  possible  origins.  But  from 
whatever  sources  they  derived  their  art,  these  Anglo- 
Saxon  draughtsmen  developed  a  very  characteristic 
style,  in  which  the  regular  and  symmetrical  lines 
of  Byzantine  design  are  rendered  with  a  peculiar 
angular  and  staccato  touch  and  in  which  the 
draperies  take  on  peculiarly  agitated  and  contorted 
shapes. 

This  style  is  seen  at  its  finest  in  the  Benedictional 
of  St.  ethelwold,  which,  however,  though  more 
imposing  than  the  St.  Aldhelm,  is  scarcely  so  mas- 
terly in  drawing.  It  has,  nevertheless,  the  great 
advantage  of  colour,  and  here  again  by  its  subtle, 
not  to  saysophisticated,  harmonies  of  dull  greenish 
blues  and  degraded  purples  it  gives  evidence  of  a 
direct  derivation  from  the  long-matured  perfection 
of  the  Romano-Byzantine  tradition. 

Much  more  in  touch  with  what  one  may  suppose 
to  have  been  the  temper  of  the  time  are  the  Bury 
St.  Edmunds  books,  the  Miracles  of  St.  Edmund 
(18)  and  the  New  Testament  (23),  which  may 
almost  be  by  the  same  artist.  Here  we  have  an 
artist  telling  the  stories  of  Christ's  and  St.  Edmund's 
lives  in  the  rough  dialect  that  he  may  have  learned 
almost  unaided  from  life  itself.  He  has  no  certain 
idea  of  how  to  represent  the  figure  or  even  the 
face.     He  sees  everything  in  its  broadest  aspect  as 


^ 


y-^ 


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5     f 


~4i    S-'fck 


V     2     - 


S  5^    I  s 


b  -    I    *(  c  s 


P     r    ^"^^    -     t     K  t"   {^ 
c     O     G.     •    ~^     y  ^  ii.    _r:  *  ri    q_ 


r 
S 

5  8? 


gHHTk&t 


H     32 

I    o 


H    fa 


S  z 

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o 


=^  2 


Knglish  Illuminated  Manuscripts 


children  do  ;  and,  like  children,  he  exaggerates  any 
prominent  feature  the  form  of  which  he  can  grasp, 
as  is  evident  from  the  prodigious  noses  with  which 
he  invariably  provides  his  faces.  With  all  his 
grossness,  however,  he  has  a  certain  rude  and 
humorous  sense  of  life  which  enables  him  to  tell 
his  story  vividly  enough.  At  this  period,  then,  the 
art  of  Winchester  and  that  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds 
are  separated  by  the  whole  cycle  through  which 
art  periodically  moves.  In  one  we  have  indigenous 
simplicity  in  its  infantile  struggles  with  the 
problem  of  representation  ;  in  the  other,  the  last 
refinements  of  a  tradition  handed  down  from 
Roman  civilization.  W'e  see  too  from  this  how 
exiguous  the  stream  of  learned  and  classic  tradition 
had  become,  how  precarious  its  continued  existence 
in  the  disturbed  conditions  of  the  time.  Yet  it 
just  survived,  survived  long  enough  to  blend  with 
the  new  indigenous  current  to  form  ultimately  the 
homogeneous  and  universal  tide  of  Gothic  art. 
Indeed  this  fortunate  union  is  already  effected 
before  the  Gothic  in  the  Romanesque  style,  where 
Roman,  Byzantine  and  indigenous  elements  fuse 
into  a  simple  whole.  Of  this  the  Yorkshire  Psalter 
(31)  is  a  splendid  example,  with  its  grandiose  and 
severe  linear  design  comparable  to  that  of  the  great 
French  sculptures  of  the  period  at  Vezelay,  or  the 
contemporary  glass  windows  which  survive  in  a 
few  French  examples.  It  shares  with  these  latter, 
too,  the  characteristic  pale  and  brilliant  colour- 
scheme  which  was  so  decidedly  changed  in  the 
succeeding  century. 

The  fusion  of  the  two  elements  is,  however,  not 
perfect  here,  the  traditional  figure  of  David  being 
more  complete  in  style  than  the  more  realistic 
and  experimental  figures  of  the  attendant  musicians. 

But  in  our  other  great  example,  the  Winchester 
Vulgate  (106),  we  find  the  style  arrived  at  com- 
plete perfection. 

The  vitality  of  these  figures,  the  energy  and 
direct  expressiveness  of  their  gestures,  show  how 
the  ruder  native  element  has  enriched  and  vital- 
ized the  traditional  design,  and  how  that  native 
feeling  is  no  longer  barbaric  and  experimental  as 
in  the  Bury  St.  Edmunds  books,  but  is  harmonized 
into  a  suave  dignity  by  the  controlling  sense  of 
beauty  of  the  great  tradition.  The  drawing  has 
the  equable  rhythm,  the  disposition  and  spacing 
show  the  certainty  and  balance,  of  a  great  and 
noble  style. 

One  is  reminded  of  Signorelli,  or  of  some  great 
Italian  of  the  Renaissance,  before  a  figure  as  beau- 
tifully and  tenderly  expressive  as  that  of  the  angel 
with  bent  head  who  assists  at  the  Harrowing  of  Hell, 
while  the  figure  of  David  and  the  lion  in  its  perfect 
adjustment  of  the  claims  of  decoration  and  ex- 
pression may  not  unfairly  be  compared  with  some 
of  the  designs  of  Greek  vase  painters.  In  colour, 
this  artist  has  already  attained  to  the  sober  richness 
and  solidity  of  the  thirteenth-century  French  artists. 


Indeed,  it  is  evident  that  the  great  artistic  move- 
ment of  that  time  inherited  from  the  artists  of  the 
twelfth  century  a  technique  in  painting  as  com- 
pletely elaborated  as  they  did  in  sculpture. 

Two  other  examples  of  the  great  qualities  of 
twelfth-century  English  design  must  be  noticed  in 
this  connexion — one,  the  symbolical  figure  of  St. 
Mark  in  a  Latin  Gospel  (19),  a  sedate  and  awful 
figure  with  a  certain  noble  harshness  in  its  positive 
primary  colouring,  and  the  Swan  in  Mr.  Pierpont 
Morgan's  Bestiary  (No.  80).  This  has  something 
of  an  Egyptian  quality  in  the  sheer  simplification  of 
the  contour.  The  forms  are  conceived  not  without 
a  sympathy  with  one  aspect  of  the  animal,  though 
it  takes  on  something  of  the  ferocity  of  a  bird  of 
prey  under  the  stress  of  the  artist's  bold  and  vigor- 
ous simplification  of  the  forms.  Looking  at  these 
four  examples,  one  might  almost  be  tempted  to 
say  that  in  England,  at  least,  the  art  of  drawing 
reached  its  climax,  attained  to  its  noblest  and 
austerest  expressiveness,  already  at  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century. 

It  is,  however,  none  the  less  clear,  from  the  mere 
quantity  of  work  of  fine  quality,  that  the  thirteenth 
century  produced  in  England,  though  less  markedly 
than  in  France,  the  florescence  of  the  art  of  illumi- 
nation. Less  markedly  than  in  France,  because 
just  as  the  English  architects  failed  to  understand 
fully  the  implications  of  the  new  discovery  of  the 
ribbed  vault  and  pointed  arch,  the  English  minia- 
turists never  learned  quite  what  the  new  rhythm 
of  the  thirteenth  century  implied  in  freedom  and 
amplitude  of  composition.  In  both  alike,  they 
failed  of  the  supremely  logical  constructive  sense 
which  distinguishes  French  Gothic  art. 

We  find  then,  that  a  good  many  of  the  English 
miniatures  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  in  so 
similar  a  style  to  the  French  and  Flemish  that 
they  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  them 
except  by  a  generally  lower  level  both  in  the 
lucidity  of  the  composition  and  the  perfection  of 
the  execution.  But  there  is  another  class  of  thir- 
teenth-century miniatures  which  is  distinctly 
English,  and  is  of  peculiar  interest.  Already  in 
Anglo-Saxon  times,  two  alternative  methods  of 
technique  were  employed  in  illumination — one, 
the  usual  one,  in  which  the  outline  was  filled  in 
with  solid  colours  mixed  with  white  and  the  lights 
laid  on  in  a  paler  mixture  of  the  same  local  tint ; 
the  other,  exemplified  by  the  Bury  St.  Edmunds 
book,  which  is  a  development  of  the  pure  linear 
drawing  in  which  the  figures  are  outlined  in  two 
or  three  primary  colours  and  the  outline  enriched 
by  a  kind  of  arbitrary  shading  of  the  same  tint. 
This  second  technique  developed  in  the  thirteentii 
century  into  a  method  in  wliich  the  figures  and 
drapery  were  rather  simimarily  modelled  in  a 
few  transparent  washes,  leaving  the  lighter  parts 
faintly  coloured  or  else  colourless.  No  body 
colour  was  used  in  this  method,  which  is,  1  believe, 

c  267 


English  Illuminated  Manuscripts 


peculiarly  English.  It  affords  a  mucli  simpler, 
more  summary  and  rapid  means  of  delineation, 
and  was  particularly  employed  by  those  artists 
who  devoted  themselves  to  interpreting  the 
Apocalypse.  So  that  we  may  for  a  convenience 
call  this  pure  transparent  water-colour  method  the 
Apocalyptic  style.  Certain  other  books  show  the 
same  or  a  closely  similar  method,  which  is  already 
fully  developed  in  the  noble  Psalter  written  for  a 
nun  of  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  Winchester  (No.  38), 
whicli  is  attributed  with  some  uncertainty  to 
a  London  scribe  working  1 220-1 240.  This 
style  does  not,  of  course,  lend  itself  to  any 
great  perfection  and  richness  of  colour,  but  its 
qualities  of  economy  and  ease  make  it  peculiarly 
suitable  to  the  record  of  visionary  impressions. 
There  was  less  need  thus  to  define  relations  of 
figures  to  the  picture  space  exactly,  or  to  construct 
them  solidly.  Indeed,  the  Apocalyptic  artists 
allow  the  drawing  to  pass  outside  its  proper 
boundaries  as  the  caprice  of  their  rapidly  recorded 
visions  directs.  One  seems  before  some  of  these 
strange  and  fantastic  improvisations  to  recognize 
already  the  ancestry  of  William  Blake,  and  to 
note  the  characteristic  of  English  figure  design, 
its  visionary,  capricious  and  intensely  individual 
character,  together  with  its  want  of  the  plastic 
and  constructive  sense. 

But  of  all  the  works  in  this  style  none  comes 
more  near  to  monumental  grandeur  and  nobility  of 
style  than  the  Psalter  already  alluded  to.  If,  as  we 
shall  see,  most  of  the  miniaturists  are  closely  allied 
in  the  principles  of  their  art  to  the  stained  glass 
window  designers,  these  Apocalyptic  artists  are 
akin  in  technique  and  methods  of  design  to  the 
fresco  painters,  and  the  artist  of  the  Psalter  in  par- 
ticular might  almost  have  transferred  his  Last 
Judgment  unaltered  to  a  wall  of  a  church.  We 
can  here  perhaps  appreciate  what  we  have  lost  by 
the  wholesale  destruction  which  has  befallen  this 
branch  of  English  mediaeval  design.  It  is  true 
that  this  illuminator  fails  altogether  in  his  rendering 
of  Christ  as  the  Judge,  but  the  angel  that  leads 
the  elect  to  their  anticipated  bliss  has  something 
almost  Dantesque  in  the  gracious  severity  of  his 
condescension.  The  artist  is  moreover  vigorously 
dramatic  in  his  rendering  of  scenes  of  the  Old 
Testament  on  the  opposite  page,  as  witness  the 
admirably  composed  Jacob  Wrestling  with  the 
Angel  and  the  agitated  scene  of  Joseph  Sold  to  the 
Midianites,  where  coarse  brutality  and  commercial 
grossness  are  effectively  rendered  in  the  types. 
Another  work  of  this  Apocalyptic  style,  and  in 
some  ways  the  most  curious,  is  No.  48,  containing 
twenty-three  leaves  from  a  thirteenth-century 
Psalter.  The  artist  of  the  pages  exhibited  (for 
there  are  several  hands  here)  is  a  striking  example 
of  the  English  characteristics:  he  is  capricious  and 
fantastic,  and  his  work  has  the  strange  and  visionary 
remoteness,  to  which   I  have  alluded,  in  a  high 

268 


degree,  as  witness  the  strange  representation  of 
the  Trinity  on  another  page  than  that  shown.  As 
an  example  of  the  essentially  monumental  and 
fresco-like  character  of  the  group  I  may  allude  to 
the  noble  St.  Christopher  of  the  Apocalypse, 
No.  87. 

Returning  once  more  to  what  may  be  termed 
the  normal  illuminator's  style  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  we  note  as  characteristic  of  English  work 
the  elaborate  B  of  Beatus,  a  feature  already  present 
in  the  Yorkshire  Psalter  (31),  but  elaborated  with 
a  splendid  and  sober  magnificence  in  the  two 
Psalters  of  the  second  half  of  the  century  (52  and 
53),  which  as  regards  the  scientifically  perfect  use  of 
colour  in  such  decorations  are  perhaps  unsurpassed 
in  the  whole  exhibition.  Finally  the  B  is  filled 
with  no  merely  decorative  scrollwork  but,  appro- 
priately enough,  with  the  tree  of  Jesse.  Of 
this  treatment  Mr.  Pierpont  Morgan's  Windmill 
Psalter  (47)  is  the  supreme  example.  It  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  one  authority  has  pro- 
nounced this  to  be  French  ;  but  if  it  is,  as  seems 
almost  certain,  English,  it  represents  the  cul- 
minating point  of  our  thirteenth-century  art. 
The  artist  shows  a  freedom  in  his  posing  of 
the  figure,  a  rhythmical  quality  in  his  design  of 
even  the  most  complex  casts  of  drapery,  which 
argue  consummate  artistic  invention  and  expres- 
sive power.  The  pose  of  Jesse,  with  head  thrown 
back  and  flowing  hair,  shows  that  the  artist's 
science  is  as  consummate  as  his  taste  is  exquisite. 
The  colour  harmony,  based  on  a  contrast  of  dull 
purplish  red  with  deep  warm  blue  on  a  ground  of 
dull  buff  and  golden  brown,  is  comparable  with 
that  of  the  finest  stained  glass  of  the  period.  In 
the  whole  history  of  English  figure  design  there 
are  few  masterpieces  that  can  bear  comparison 
with  this. 

With  the  Gorleston  Psalter  (67)  of  the  early 
fourteenth  century  we  take  a  further  step  in  the 
elaboration  of  the  typical  Jesse  tree  design, 
but  already  the  change  to  a  new  style  is  being 
prepared.  Mere  richness  and  multiplicity  of 
ornament  replace  to  some  extent  the  clear  co- 
ordination of  parts,  and  the  colour  scheme 
becomes  gayer  and  blonder,  but  infinitely  less 
subtle  and  expressive. 

The  next  example,  the  St.  Omer  Psalter  (68), 
begun  about  twenty  years  later  than  the  Gorleston 
book,  and  like  that  belonging  to  the  East  Anglian 
school,  shows  the  change  to  the  fourteenth  century 
style  completed.  The  main  change  is  from  an  art  of 
linear  design,  filled  in  with  colour  in  two  or  three 
distinct  tones,  to  an  art  in  which  the  figure  is 
modelled  by  more  insensible  gradations  of  light 
and  shade  ;  an  art  in  which  the  figure  is  rendered 
in  its  atmosphere.  This  change  may  be  seen  at 
almost  the  same  time  in  the  French  work  of  Jean 
Pucelle,  but  if  anything  one  may  incline  to  give  the 
priority  to  the  English  artist. 


•n  7 


7.  9 


7. 

O 
H 


f-    = 


,iA 


;i^' 


PAGE  KROM  THE  PSALTER  OF  HlMPHliEY  DE  BOHUX. 
(".  1370  (CATALOGUE  NO.  73).  1\  THE  P(.)SSESSIOX 
OF   EXETER   COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


PAGE     KROM     WORKS    ISV    T.    CHAIXDLER,    1457-I461     ICATALOGIE 
NO.    15SI.      IX   THE    POSSESSIOX   OI-    TRINITY   COLLEGE,  CAMBRUJGE. 


ENGLISH    MSS.    AT  THE    DIRLINGTON 
MNE    AKTS   CLl  li.      PI. ATE    IV 


English  Illuminated  Manuscripts 


The  change  evidently  went  with  an  increased 
desire  for  naturaHsm,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  dehght- 
ful  renderings  of  animals  and  flowers  interwoven 
in  the  border  of  the  St.  Omer  Psalter  with  a  delicate 
and  fanciful  invention  that  is  entirely  delightful  : 
but  it  corresponds  to  a  still  further  loss  of  the 
general  co-ordinating  power  and  the  ruling  archi- 
tectonic sense.  At  the  same  time  the  unusual 
freedom  of  this  artist's  original  method  of  design 
permits  of  a  lavish  exuberance  of  strange  and 
delightful  inventions  conceived  in  an  almost 
Rococo  vein,  which  reveal  to  us  a  fascinating 
artistic  personality  ;  we  imagine  a  man  to 
whom  precious  and  extravagant  conceits  suggest 
themselves  in  such  quantity  that  the  minutest 
fragment  of  his  decoration  must  be  crowded  witii 
microscopic  figures  of  men,  animals,  and  plants. 
The  same  process,  the  increase  of  delicacy  and 
minuteness  of  the  execution  of  lace-like  intricacy 
of  detail,  reaches  its  climax  in  the  two  examples  of 
an  isolated  style  which  have  been  referred  tenta- 
tively to  London  and  the  court  of  Richard  II. 
Here  the  border  is  made  up  entirely  of  architectural 
forms,  minute  and  constantly  repeated  in  a  manner 
which  recalls  some  of  the  elaborate  architecture  of 
the  period.  Tiiough  the  design  lacks  strength  and 
breadth  of  conception,  and  though  the  tendency 
is  everywhere  to  over-elaboration,  one  cannot 
deny  the  exquisite  taste,  the  '  preciosity '  of  this 
work.  The  figures,  too,  though  their  poor  pro- 
portions and  weak  movements  show  a  serious 
degeneration  from  the  figures  of  the  late  thir- 
teenth century,  are  conceived  with  a  certain 
dainty  elegance  which  is  extremely  seductive,  and 
they  show  for  the  first  time  an  interest  in  contem- 
porary fashionable  costume.  The  question  arises 
whether  any  of  the  remains  of  mediaeval  painting 
of  this  period  can  be  connected  with  these  singu- 
lar works.  The  contemporary  paintings  of  St. 
Stephen's  Chapel,  representing  the  trials  of  Job,  in 
the  British  Museum,  show,  indeed,  a  similar  attitude 
on  the  artist's  part  and  a  not  dissimilar  rendering 
of  the  figure  ;  but  with  the  other  great  work  of 
the  time,  the  superb  diptych  of  Wilton  House, 
representing  Richard  II  kneeling  before  the  Virgin, 
the  case  is  less  clear.  It  is  true  that  all  attempts  to 
connect  this  with  any  particular  French  artist  have 
failed,  but,  while  one  may  say  that  these  miniatures 
breathe  a  somewhat  similar  spirit  and  are  inspired 
by  a  similar  refinement  and  preciosity  of  taste, 
they  still  fall  so  far  below  the  level  of  the  Wilton 
House  picture  as  to  leave  the  point  open  to 
doubt. 

With  the  fifteenth  century  we  enter  upon  the 
decline  of  the  art.  The  elaborate  architectural 
borders  of  the  last  examples  vanisli  as  suddenly  as 
they  appeared,  and  a  new  form  of  conventional  floral 
border  is  introduced,  according  to  some  authorities 


from  Bohemian  sources.  It  is  worth  noticing,  by 
the  bye,  that  the  ivy-leaf  border,  which  persisted  for 
so  long  in  French  manuscripts  disappears  after  an 
early  tentative  begiiming  in  the  Gurleston  Psalter. 

Of  these  fifteenth  century  English  manuscripts 
the  finest  were  the  Psalter  and  Hours  of  Henry 
Beauchamp,  Duke  of  Warwick  (152).  The  An- 
nunciation in  this  book  shows  a  skill  which 
remains  comparable  with  that  of  contemporary 
French  art.  The  succeeding  book  of  Hours  (153) 
is  interesting  in  that  the  miniature  shown  repre- 
senting the  Last  Supper  has  the  peculiar  archi- 
tectural background  which  is  found  in  the  Eng- 
lish embroidery  of  the  fourteenth  and  early  fifteenth 
century.  In  the  Epistle  of  Othea  to  Hector  (157), 
we  have  figures  in  grisaille  that  show  unusual 
accomplishment  for  the  time ;  but  of  all  the 
fifteenth  century  books  none  is  comparable  for 
artistic  interest  with  the  works  of  T.Chaundler  (158) 
composed,  written  and  illustrated  by  himself. 
Chaundler  was  wardenof  Winchester  College,  1450, 
of  New  College,  145 1  ;  Chancellor  of  Wells,  1452  ; 
Warden  of  New  College,  1455-75  ;  Chancellor  of 
Oxford,  14S7-61  and  1472-9,  and  Vice-Chancellor, 
1463-7  ;  Dean  of  Hereford,  1482.  He  died  in  1490. 
This  volume  must  have  been  produced  during 
his  first  tenure  of  the  Chancellorship  of  Oxford, 
1457-61. 

The  drawings  illustrate  his  '  Liber  Apologeticus 
de  omni  statu  humana;  naturae  docens.'  In  the 
one  here  reproduced,  Man,  clothed  in  ermine  and 
enthroned,  receives  from  God  the  sceptre  and  orb. 
On  Man's  left  is  Sensuality  with  an  apple,  on  his 
right  Reason,  a  crowned  lady  holding  a  mirror 
and  attended  by  two  angels. 

The  technique  is  peculiar,  the  figures  are  drawn 
in  outline,  and  the  background,  a  vague  landscape 
of  hills  and  trees,  is  somewhat  carelessly  sketched 
in  light  washes.  At  first  sight  it  would  almost 
seem  as  though  an  inferior  hand  had  put  in 
these  backgrounds  later  on,  but  I  believe  they  are 
by  Chaundler,  who  has  deliberately  left  them  in  a 
vague,  inchoate  state,  perhaps  as  fitting  the  indeter- 
minate and  allegorical  nature  of  his  subjects.  It 
is  upon  the  figures  certainly  that  he  has  concen- 
trated all  the  power  of  his  rare  genius.  They  have 
something  of  the  decision  of  character  and  beauty 
of  line  of  Fouquet's  figures,  and  yet,  judging  from 
the  supposed  dates,  must  be  an  entirely  original 
and  spontaneous  creation.  Chaundler  is  the  inspired 
amateur,  and  as  such  fitly  closes  the  story  of 
English  mediaeval  illustration,  where  we  find  so 
much  more  instinct  than  science,  so  much  more 
spontaneous  emotion  than  ordered  intelligence, 
but  where  the  small  number  of  works  of  the  highest 
artistic  quality  is  to  some  extent  made  up  for  by 
thepsycliological  interest  of  these  recorded  human 
documents. 


273 


THE  MEDALLIST  LYSIPPUS 
^  BY  G.  F.  HILL  ^k, 


HE  medallist  whose  works  it 
is  the  object  of  this  paper  to 
discuss  was  one  of  the  minor 
artists  who  worked  at  Rome 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  His  real 
name  is  unknown,  for  it  has 
been  doubtless  rightly  pre- 
sumed that  '  Lysippus  the  Younger/  as  he  was 
pleased  to  call  himself,  is  a  pseudonym.  He  was  dis- 
interred from  complete  obscurity  by  Julius  Fried- 
liinder,*  who  found  him  mentioned  by  Raphael 
Maffei  da  Volterra-as  a  nephew  of  Cristoforo  di 
Geremia,  and  as  the  artist  of  a  medal  of  Sixtus  IV. 
Since  then  other  scholars  have  endeavoured  to 
reconstruct  his  ccuvre  from  the  somewhat  scanty 
evidence  available.'  The  time  has,  I  think,  now 
come  for  a  reconsideration  of  the  various  attribu- 
tions which  have  been  made,  with  a  view  to  sifting 
the  certain  from  the  doubtful  or  impossible. 

All  these  attributions  rest  ultimately  on  the  basis 
of  two  medals,  one  of  which  is  known  only  from 
an  engraving  of  the  early  seventeenth  century. 
This  engraving  was  reproduced  by  Friedliinder  in 
the  text  of  his  book.  As  his  block  does  scant  justice 
to  the  original,  a  fresh  reproduction  is  given  here 

(PI.  I,  I).' 

1.  It  represents  the  bust  of  a  young  man,  Giulio 
Marascha  (IVL  •  MAKAS  •  OPTIM  •  INDOL  • 
ADOL"),  to  1.,  w-earing  a  cap.  On  the  reverse  is 
a  wreath  enclosing  the  inscription  LYSIPPVS 
AM  ICO  OPTIMO,  above  and  below  which  are 
u'V  leaves. 

2.  The  second  medal  (PI.  I,  2)  bearing  the 
artist's  name  is  fortunately  extant  in  a  unique 
specimen    now   in    the    Bibliotheque    Nationale.'' 

1' Italienische  Schaumiinzen,'  p.  126. 

-'Comment.  Urban.'  (1506)  lib.  xxi,  p.  ccc,  v"  :  Chrisfophorus 
Mantuanus  Paulum  II  (iconicum  numismate  expressit),  Lysippus 
vero  eius  nepos  adolescens  Xlstum  iiii.  In  the  margin  stands 
'.  Lysippus  lunior.' 

^  Armand,  '  Medailleurs  de  la  Renaissance,'  i,  p.  54;  C.  von 
Fabriczy,  '  Ital.  Medals'  (Eng.  trans,  pp.  159  ft'.) ;  \V.  Bode,  in 
a  review  of  Fabriczy's  book  in  '  Zeitschrift  f.  bild.  Kunst,'  xv, 
p.  41.  The  chief  additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  subject  are 
due  to  Dr.  von  Fabriczy,  to  whose  kindness  I  am  also  indebted 
for  much  information  privately  communicated.  My  thanks  for 
information,  or  for  casis  or  photographs  of  medals  discussed  in 
the  following  pages,  are  also  due  to  the  Keepers  of  the  Cabinets 
of  Berlin,  Munich,  Paris,  Vienna,  Florence,  Milan  and  Turin, 
and  to  Messrs.  Bode,  Gustave  Dreyfus,  Salting,  Dressel,  Supino, 
de  la  Tour,  Ercole  Gnecchi  and  Bardini  ;  Mr.  Max  Rosenheim  I 
have  to  thank  in  addition  for  many  invaluable  suggestions  and 
criticisms. 

*  From  Mr.  Rosenheim's  copy  of  Paul  Petau's  '  Antiquariae 
Supellectilis  Portiuncula,'  PI.  15.  The  date  on  the  title-page  is 
1610  ;  but  it  is  clear  from  various  bibliographical  considerations, 
into  which  this  is  hardly  the  place  to  enter,  that  PI.  15  is  of 
slightly  later  origin,  having  been  engraved  at  some  time  between 
1610  and  1613.  The  curious  statement  on  the  plate  that  the 
Lysippus  medal  was  found  in  a  Roman  ash-urn  in  a  tomb  at 
Amiens  shows  that  Petau,  like  most  collectors,  was  occasionally 
victiuiized  by  the  persons  from  whom  his  antiquities  were 
acquired. 

=  Armand  1,54.1.  Diam.  42  mm.  Triangular  stops  in  the 
inscription. 


It  represents  the  laureate  bust  of  Marinus  Phile- 
thicus,  '  Poeta  Lau(reatus)  et  Eques  Com(es)  Pal- 
(atii)',  who  was  Professor  of  Greek  at  Rome  in 
1473.  On  the  reverse  is  a  pelican  '  in  her  piety,' 
and  the  signature  EPrON  AYSinnOY  NEOTEPOY. 
The  type  is  copied  from  Pisanello's  well-known 
medal  of  a  much  more  distinguished  scholar, 
Vittorino  da  Feltre.  The  use  of  a  Greek  inscrip- 
tion is  no  doubt  due  partly  to  the  suggestion  of 
the  artist's  pseudonym  ('  il  se  piquait  de  litterature 
grecque'  says  M.  de  la  Tour,"  and  he  uses  Greek 
inscriptions  on  one  or  two  other  medals),  but  it 
may  also  be  a  compliment  to  the  Professor  of 
Greek. 

We  notice  in  one  or  both  of  these  two  medals 
the  following  peculiarities  :  the  strongly  curved 
truncation  of  the  bust,  running  to  a  sharp  point, 
especially  in  front ;  the  comparative  poverty  of 
invention  in  the  reverse  designs  (the  device  of  an 
inscription  in  a  conventional  wreath  is  frequently 
employed  by  the  artist,  and  is  only  redeemed 
from  utter  banality  by  the  fineness  of  the  lettering); 
the  occasional  use  of  triangular  stops,  and  the 
two  ivy-leaves. 

These  leaves,  used  separately  in  the  medal  of 
Giulio  Marascha,  are  not  mere  stops.  For  they 
occur,  joined  on  one  stalk,  on  a  small  group  of 
medals,  w-hich  no  one  can  hesitate  on  indepen- 
dent grounds  to  assign  to  the  same  hand  as  made 
the  medals  of  Marinus  Philethicus  and  Giulio 
Marascha.  They  may  be  regarded,  in  fact,  as  a 
form  of  signature.  Of  the  medals  thus  dis- 
tinguished, by  far  the  most  important,  and  both 
by  its  treatment  and  by  its  sentiment  the  most 
pleasing  of  all  the  artist's  works,  is  a  piece  which 
has  not  hitherto  been  recognized  as  his  : — 

3.  Ohv.  Bust  of  young  man  to  left,  with  curly 
hair,  wearing  cap,  and  robe  over  vest  buttoned 
down  the  front ;  around,  DI  LA  IL  BEL  VISO, 
E  QVI  IL  TVO  SERVO  MIRA;  below,  two 
ivy-leaves  on  a  stalk.     Moulded  border. 

Rev.     Plain. 

Bronze.    82.5  mm.     British  Museum.'     PI.  I,  3. 

Neither  of  the  two  specimens  of  this  medal 
known  has  any  design  on  the  reverse,  which  we 
may  justly  assume  was  meant  to  be  polished  and 
serve  as  a  mirror.*  The  inscription,  '  Behold  on 
the  other  side  your  fair  countenance,  and  on  this 
your  servant,'  has  then  a  charming  significance, 
adding  much  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  piece. 
Nor  shall  we  be  rash  in  regarding  the  person 
represented  as  Lysippus  hiinself ;  although  ex- 
treme caution   may  find  it  desirable  to   say  that 

'' '  Rev.  Num,'  1894,  p.  342. 

'Cp.  .Armand  II,  p.  78,  No.  23  (83  mm.). 

"  If,  like  the  Munich  specimen  of  one  of  theToscani  medals,  it 
was  cast  in  silver,  it  would  be  still  more  effective  as  a  mirror.  I 
had  at  first  supposed  that  the  artist  meant  to  place  on  the  reverse 
a  portrait  of  the  person  to  whom  the  medal  was  presented  ;  I 
owe  the  very  much  neater  idea  of  the  mirror  to  Mr.  O,  M.  Dallon. 


274 


2.     1.     2. 


4     3      5. 


4.     5. 


>^ 


i 


MEDALS   BY    LYSIPI'US 

I'l.Ari-:  I 


he  may  equally  well  be  some  one  for  whom 
Lysippus  made  the  medal  in  order  that  it  might 
be  sent  to  his  iiinaiiiorata. 

This  medal,  which  for  convenience  may  be 
called  the  mirror-medal,  has  a  breadth  of  treat- 
ment to  which  Lysippus,  a  very  variable  artist, 
does  not  often  attain.  The  moulded  border  is  a 
feature  which  we  shall  meet  with  in  two  or  three 
other  medals  from  his  hand  (Xos.  15,  16,  19). 

Three  other  medals  are  marked  with  the  ivy- 
leaves  : 

4.  Giovanni  Alvise  Toscani. 

Obi'.  Bust  to  1.  of  Toscani  wearing  cap ; 
around,  his  name,  with  title  Auditor  Cam(erae). 

Rev.  Neptune  to  front  in  a  chariot  drawn  over 
the  waves  by  two  sea-horses,  and  preceded  by 
two  dolphins  ;  he  holds  a  trident  and  a  dolphin, 
and  his  cloak  flies  out  behind  him.  Above,  two  ivy- 
leaves  on  stalk;  around,  VICTA  lAM  NVRSIA 
FATIS  AGITVR. 

Bronze.    British  Museum.  43  mm."     Plate  I,  4. 

The  significance  of  the  type  and  legend  is  alto- 
gether obscure ;  what  connexion  Toscani  can  have 
had  with  Nursia  (famed  chiefly  as  a  home  of 
sorcery  and  as  the  birthplace  of  Sertorius  and 
St.  Benedict),  or  Nursia  with  Neptune,  remains  to 
be  explained.  Giovanni  Alvise  Toscani  was  a 
brilliant  young  Milanese  lawj'er,  orator  and  poet, 
who  entered  the  service  of  Sixtus  IV  and  died  in 

I475-" 

The  two  remaining  medals  with  the  ivy-leaves 
are  of  Francisco  Vidal  of  Noya  in  Galicia. 
Thanks  to  an  error  which,  due  apparently  in  the 
first  instance  to  the  illustration  in  Mazzuchelli's 
work,  has  persisted  through  all  the  descriptions  of 
his  medals,  this  Spaniard  has  been  regarded  as  an 
unknown  Italian  of  Nola,  the  word  NOIANVS, 
which  is  clear  on  all  his  medals,  being  tacitly 
corrected  to  NOLANVS.  Vidal"  was  born  in 
Aragon,  and  was  the  teacher  of  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic.  He  has  been  identified  with  '  Francisco 
Vidal  de  Naya,'  a  Syracusan  archdeacon  and 
protonotary  apostolic,  who  was  appointed  prior  of 
the  Monastery  of  the  Pillar  at  Saragossa  by  Sixtus 
IV  in  1477,  although  he  did  not  begin  to  reside 
there  until  1479.  He  was  the  author  of  a  trans- 
lation of  Sallust,  which  he  made  about  1470.  The 
two  medals  of  him  '-  which  now  concern  us  are  : — 

"Armand  II.  28.  13.  Triangular  stops  on  obverse.  Many 
specimens  of  this  medal  are  known. 

'"  Keary's  statement  ('  Guide  to  the  Exhibition  of  Italian 
Medals  in  the  British  Museum,'  No.  62)  that  he  died  at  an 
advanced  age  seems  to  be  based  on  a  misprint.  An  account  of 
Toscani,  who  when  very  young  became  Consistorial  Advocate 
(to  which  early  promotion  the  '  Prevenit '  medal  described 
below  refers),  will  be  found  in  Argelati,  '  Bibl.  Script.  Mediol.' 
i.  1506,  ii.  2037. 

"  The  information  which  follows  is  taken  from  Monlaner  y 
Simon, 'Diccionario  Hispano-Americano,'  xxii.  506. 

'■-Besides  the  third,  discussed  later,  there  is  yet  another 
described  by  Armand  (iii.  177  E)  from  a  specimen  in  the  Rossi 
collection.  On  the  reverse  of  this  piece  is  '  an  angel  on  a 
human-headed  bull '  and  the  inscription  '  ANGELVS  CVSTOS 


T/ie  Medallist  Lysippus 

5.  Ohv.  Bust  to  1.,  in  cap  ;  below,  ivy-leaves  on 
stalk;  around,  FRANCISCVS  VITALIS 
NOIANVS. 

Rev.  Androclus  and  the  lion  ;  around,  GRATI- 
TVDO  ET  BENEFICENTIA. 

Bronze.  Rosenheim  collection.  41mm.'"  PL  I,  5. 

6.  Ohv.  As  No.  5. 

Rev.  Arms  and  crest ;  above,  REGVM  PRAE- 
CEPTOR.  The  arms  are  :  quarterly  ;  i  and  4, 
quarterly  :  per  saltire,  in  chief  and  point  four  pales, 
in  each  flank  an  eagle  displayed  (Sicily)  ;  2  and  3, 
checquy.     Crest,  a  human-headed  bull. 

Bronze.    British  Museum.    39- 5  mm."    PI.  I,  6. 

Francisco  Vidal  (who,  it  will  be  noticed,  was 
allowed  by  his  royal  pupil  to  quarter  the  Sicilian 
arms)  is  also  known  to  us  from  another  medal, 
which  will  be  discussed  later  among  the  medals 
the  Lysippean  origin  of  which  is  doubtful. 

This  exhausts  the  list  of  medals  which  bear  the 
name  or  mark  (if  so  the  i\n^-leaves  are  to  be  inter- 
preted) of  Lysippus.  To  them,  without  any  pos- 
sible doubt,  must  be  attached  the  following  pieces. 
A  glance  at  the  illustrations  in  the  plates  will  show 
the  likeness  between  them  and  the  pieces  already 
described.  They  vary  considerably  in  merit  and 
in  breadth  of  handling,  but  not  more  than  is 
natural  with  an  artist  who  has  not  yet  found  him- 
self.   First  come  the  remaining  medals  of  Toscani. 

7.  06v.  Bust  of  Toscani  1.  wearing  cap  ;  around, 
lOHANNES  ALOISIVS  TVSCANVS  ADVO- 
CATVS. 

Rev.  In  a  wreath,  PREVENIT  AETATEM 
INGENIVM  PRECOX. 

Bronze.     British   xMuseum.     73   mm.'"'  PI.   I,  7. 

This  refers,  as  already  noted,  to  Toscani's  ap- 
pointment, while  very  young,  to  the  post  of  con- 
sistorial advocate.  The  form  of  the  bust  on  this 
and  the  next  medal  is  exactly  similar  to  that  on 
the  mirror-medal. 

8.  Odv.  Similar  to  preceding  (in  some  cases,  at 
least,  from  the  same  mould). 

Rgv.  In  a  wreath,  INCERTVM  IVRISCON- 
SVLTVS      orator     AN     POETA      PRES- 

tanTior. 

Bronze.     Rosenheim  Coll.     71  mm.'"  PI.  II,  i. 

—NOLANVS.'  We  may  surmise  that  NOIANVS  should 
again  be  read  here.  The  human-headed  bull  is  used  by  Vidal 
as  his  crest  (see  No.  6  below)  and  Armand's  description  of  the 
type  suggests  that  it  is  inspired  by  the  ancient  coins  of  Naples 
and  other  Campanian  cities  (including  Nola,  it  is  true)  on 
which  is  a  Victory  living  above  and  crowning  a  human-headed 
bull.  Whether  this 'medal  is  by  Lysippus  or  not  I  cannot  say, 
having  seen  no  reproduction  of  it. 

"Armand  III,  177  1).  Other  specimens  in  the  British  Museum 
(39-5),  Bologna  (^9)  and  Berlin  (39  mm.). 

"Armand  II,  61.15.  .Another  specimen  at  P.aris.  Mr.  Rosen- 
heim points  out  that  the  treatment  of  the  arms  on  the  reverse  is 
rather  Spanish  than  Italian.  The  lettering  is  also  slightly 
different  from  the  lettering  on  the  obverse.  Possibly,  therefore, 
this  reverse  was  made  at  a  later  date  and  by  a  different  hand. 

"Armand  II,  2S.11.  A  specimen  in  silver  is  in  the  Munich 
Cabinet. 

"Armand  11,28.12. 

277 


The  Medallist  Lysippus 

Q.  Obv.  Bust  of  Toscani  1.,  laureate  ;  around, 
lOANNES  ALOISIVS  TVSCANVS  AVDITOR 
CAM. 

Rev.  Pallas,  helmeted,  standing  on  a  dolphui ; 
she  rests  with  her  r.  on  her  spear,  round  which  her 
serpent  twines  ;  on  her  1.  arm  is  her  shield  ;  in  the 
field,  L  P  ;  in  the  exergue,  QVID  NON  PALLAS. 

Bronze.   British    Museum.  34   mm."     PL   I,  8. 

The  form  of  the  bust  in  this  and  the  following 
medal  should  be  compared  with  that  on  Nos.  5 
and  6  of  Vidal. 

10.  Ohv.  Similar  to  preceding  (in  some  cases,  at 
least,  from  the  same  mould). 

Rev.  Coat  of  arms  ;  in  the  field,  L  P.  The 
arms  are  a  column,  on  which  two  keys  suspended  ; 
in  chief,  an  eagle  displayed. 

Bronze.     British  Museum.   34  mm.'*     PI.  I,  9- 

11.  Ohv.  Similar  to  No.  7. 
Rev.  None. 

This  piece'^  appears  to  be  known  only  from 
Mazzuchelli's  engraving,  and  is  perhaps  only  a 
reduced  copy  of  the  obverse  of  No.  7  or  No.  8. 

The  letters  L  P  on  Nos.  9  and  10  seem  to 
conceal  the  name  of  Lysippus  ;  but  what  is  meant 
by  the  second  initial  ?  Friedlander  suggested 
'  Pictor,'  and  this  has  been  accepted  by  Fabriczy. 
But  there  is  surely  little  point  in  a  medallist 
calling  himself  painter  on  a  medal  unless  he  gives 
the  title  in  full,  as  Pisanello  did  ;  for  his  object  is 
presumably  to  make  it  clear  to  the  world  that  he 
prides  himself  on  his  reputation  as  a  painter.  An 
initial  does  not  effect  this  object.  I  prefer  to  see 
in  it  some  adjectival  place-name,  such  as  Patavinus 
or  Parmensis. 

12.  Ohv.  Bustof  Francesco  Massimi,  1.;  around, 
FRANCISCVS-MAX-MILES-AC-V-I-DOC 

Rev.  A  right  hand  held  in  the  flames  of  a 
burning  faggot,  surrounded  bv  a  scroll  inscribed 
PRO  PATRIA  ;  the  whole  in  a  wreath. 

Bronze.  British  Museum.  38  mm.'"     PL  II,  2. 

Francesco  di  Paolo  Massimi,  knight  and  doctor 
of  civil  and  canon  law,  was  professor  at  Pisa  in 
1473  and  governor  of  Benevento  from  1495  to 
1498.  In  lettering  this  medal  approaches  very 
closely  to  the  first  described  medal  of  Toscani 
(No.  4).  But  we  notice  an  attempt  to  break  the 
line  of  the  truncation  of  the  bust  by  a  small 
projection.  This  is  faintly  perceptible  in  the 
medals  of  Francisco  Vidal  and  of  Alfonso  IMorosini 
(No.  14),  and  more  strongly  marked  in  the  medal 
of  Gianfrancesco  Marascha,to  which  we  now  come. 

13.  Ohv.  Bust  of  Gianfrancesco  Marascha  L, 
wearing  cap;  around,  lO"  F  •  MARASCHA 
ACOLY •  ET-  L  •  A  •  ABBREVIAT  • 

Rev.  Hope  standing  to  front,  nude  but  for 
drapery  which  passes  in  front  of  her  and  is  upheld 

!■  Arm.   II,  28,  14. 
i»Arm.  II,  28,  15. 

'"Arm.  II,   29,   16,   Diam.   (according  to  the  engraving  in 
Mazzuchclli  I,  xix,  2)  37  mm. 
="  Arm.  Ill,  178,  D.    Triangular  stops  on  obv. 

278 


by  her  arms ;  in  her  1.  she  holds  a  cornucopiae, 
with  her  r.  she  points  upwards  to  a  star ;  in  the 
e.xergue  EAniZEI. 

Bronze.    British  Museum.    36-5  mm.='    PL  II,  3. 

Gianfrancesco  Marascha,  '  acolytus  et  literarum 
apostolicarum  abbreviator,'  is  known  to  us  from 
Burchard's  '  Diary.'--  He  is  presumably  a  relation 
of  Lysippus's  other  friend,  Giulio  Marascha. 

Here,  if  it  were  not  a  mystification,  would  be 
the  place  to  include,  as  the  work  of  Lysippus,  a 
medal  professing  to  represent  Antonio  Tebaldeo, 
a  Ferrarese   poet  born    in    1463.-'      The    British 
Museum  specimen  is  certainly  only  a  worn  speci- 
men of   the  medal  of   Gianfrancesco   Marascha ; 
the  original  inscription,  having  been  purposely  or 
accidentally  obliterated,  has  been  replaced  by  the 
incised  words  ANTON'  THEBALD'.     The  speci- 
men  illustrated    by   Mazzuchelli    (unless   indeed, 
as  is  probable,  it  is  the  identical  piece  now  in  the 
British   Museum)  has  been  treated   in   a   similar 
fashion.     The  portrait  of  Marascha,  in  its  worn 
condition,  bears  a  superficial  resemblance  to  the 
undoubted  portrait  of  Tebaldeo  at  a  greater  age 
on    another    medal,    which    is   certainly   not   by 
Lysippus. 

14.  Ohv.  Bust  1.  of  Alfonso  Morosini,  wear- 
ing cap,  and  (on  his  breast)  apparently  an  order  ; 
around,  ALFONSVS  MOROSINVS. 

Rev.  Plain. 

Bronze.     Vienna.     43  mm.-'     PL  II,  4. 

Alfonso  Morosini  was,  presumably,  a  member 
of  the  great  Venetian  family,  but  I  have  not  been 
able  to  identify  him. 

15.  Ohv.  Bust  of  Antonio  de  Sancta  Maria  L, 
wearing  cap  ;  around,  ANTO  •  DE  SANCTA 
MARIA  •  I  •  V  •  D  •  COM  •  PAL 

Rev.  Arms  and  crest.  Arms  :  a  lion  rampant 
holding  a  cross  ;  on  a  chief,  an  eagle  displayed. 
Crest :  an  eagle  displayed.     Moulded  border. 

Bronze.  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  38  mm." 
PL  II,  5.     I  am  unable  to  identify  this  person. 

16.  Ohv.  Bustr.  of  GirolamoCallagrani,  wearing 
cap;  around,  HIEKONIMVS  CALLAGRANVS 
DE  CEVA. 

Rev.     Arms  and  crest.     Arms,  quarterly  ;   i  and 

=iArmand  I,  55.3  ;  H.  de  la  Tour,  'Rev.  Num.'  1894,  p.  ly.. 
Trianj^ular  stops  on  obverse. 

--  Ed.  Thuasne  I,  pp.  175  (i486)  and  320  (1488). 

-'  Arm.  II,  47.20;  Mazzuchelli  I,  xli,  2.  I  note  that  the  ex- 
planation given  in  the  text  ol  the  origin  of  this  medal  was 
arrived  at  independently  by  Mr.  Warwick  Wroth,  who  has  re- 
corded it  in  his  MS.  list  of  Italian  medals  in  the  British  Museum. 

^  Annand  III,  182  C.  Other  specimens  in  Paris  (44  mm.), 
Rosenheim  (44  mm.)  and  British  Museum  collections.  Mr. 
Rosenheim's  specimen  (like  one  described  in  the  Welzl  von 
Wcllenheim  Calal.  No.  14,33=;)  is  joined  to  a  later  reverse  (two 
putti  supporting  a  Medusa-mask)  ;  the  British  Museum  speci- 
men consists  of  two  obverses  joine;l.  This  medal  alone  of  all 
by  Lysippus  shows  a  compass-mark  ruled  as  a  guide  for  placing 
the  letters  of  the  inscription.  A  really  good  specimen  does  not 
seem  to  be  known. 

'^  Cp.  Arm.  II,  77.21  ;  Spitzer  Catalogue  PI- 39,  No.  1,300. 
Another  specimen  at  Berlin  (Simon  collection).  Triangular  stops 
on  obv. 


4,  a  star  of  8  points  ;  2  and  3,  a  spray  of  laurel  (?). 
Crest,  a  lion  holding  in  his  paws  a  star.  Moulded 
border. 

Bronze.     Turin  Museum.     38  mm.-'^     PI.  11,6. 

Girolamo  Callagrani,  his  medal  tells  us,  was  a 
native  of  Ceva,  though  Ughelli"  describes  him  as 
as  a  citizen  of  Fossano.  Innocent  VIII  adopted 
him  into  the  Cibo  family,  and  made  him  Apostolic 
Protonotary  and  Secret  Chamberlain.  In  1490  he 
was  made  Bishop  of  Mondovi,  and  held  that 
position  until  his  death  in  1497.  Such  a  dignity 
would  naturally  have  been  mentioned  on  a  medal 
if  possible  ;  the  medal  is  therefore  to  be  regarded 
as  earlier  than  1490,  at  least.-^  Another  piece, 
not  by  Lysippus,  also  represents  the  same  man.^ 

The  two  medals  of  Sancta  Maria  and  Callagrani 
W'ere  probably  made  at  the  same  time,  to  judge 
from  their  very  similar  treatment.  They  are 
among  the  least  satisfactory  of  the  whole  series. 

17.  Obv.  Bust  of  Parthenius  1.,  wearing  cap  ; 
around,  PARTHENIVS   AMICVS. 

Rev.  A  lily  growing;  across  field,  FLORESCO 
CALORE  PARTEX'lI. 

Berlin.     36.5  mm.*'     PI.  II,  7. 

The  Parthenius  represented  on  this  medal  has 
been  identified  by  Armand'^'  with  Ippolito  Aurispa, 
a  Latin  poet  of  Macerata.  His  authority  for  the 
identification  is  not  given,  and  the  only  Ippolito 
Aurispa  recorded  by  Mazzuchelli, "'  though  he  was 
a  native  of  Macerata,  did  not  flourish  until  about 
1619,  and  is  not  identified  with  '  Parthenius.' 
More  probably  the  friend  of  Lysippus  is 
Bartolommeo  Parthenio  of  Brescia  (Benacensis), 
a  good  Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  who  taught 
publicly  at  Rome  and  flourished  about  1480-85,^' 
that  is  to  say  exactly  at  the  time  demanded  by 
our  medal. 

18.  Obv.  Bust  of  Malitia  de  Gesualdo  1.  wearing 
cap  ;  around,  MAAITIA2  lEIOYAAAOYS. 

Rev.  A  male  figure,  draped  in  antique  fashion, 
standing  before  a  tree,  and  raising  his  right  hand  ; 
around,  MEXPI  TOY  TEAOYS. 

Bronze.  Salting  collection.  41-5  mm."  PI.  11,8. 

Malitia  de  Gesualdo,  a  Neapolitan  by  birth,  was 
Bishop  of  Rapolla  {1482-1488)  and  secretary  of 

*•  Arm.  II,  64,  n. 

^  '  Ital.  Sacra,'  IV,  p.  1090. 

^  He  is  constantly  mentioned  in  Burchard's  diary  from  14S4 
to  1490  as  secretus  cubicularius  and  subdiaconus  apostolicus  ; 
after  tiis  appointment  to  tlie  See  of  Mondovi  he  is  not  men- 
tioned, and  presumably  left  Rome. 

■'•'Arm.  11,64,  '+•  Tliis  medal  is  perhaps  by  Cristoforo  di 
Geremia,  to  judge  from  a  cast  kindly  sent  me  by  Dr.  Habich. 

*•  Arm.  II,  77,  17.  The  Dreyfus  specimen  measures  35  mm. 
Triangular  stop  on  obv. 

"Ill,  179//,- 185  /. 

'^'Scritt.  d'ltalia.'s.  n. 

■"See  Jijcher,  '  Gelehrtenlexiccn.'  His  edition  of  Mains  was 
published  in  1485,  his  Thucydides  in  1485  (?).  Giuliari,  '  Letter. 
Veron.'  p.  116,  records  his  edition  of  Guarino's  Strabo  publislied 
at  Treviso  in  1483. 

^'Rome  sale  (1904),  lot  284.  Another  specimen,  belonging  to 
Dr.  H.  Dressel,  of  Berlin,  was  found  in  the  Tiber  ;  it  was  evid- 
ently in  admirable  condition  before  it  became  encrusted. 


T^e  Medallist  Lysippus 

Innocent  VIII.     He  died  in  1488.''^     This  medal 
was  probably  made  before  he  became  bishop. 

19.  Obv.  Bust  of  Catelano  Casali  1.,  wearing 
cap  ;  around,  CATELANVS  CASALIVS  BONO- 
NIEN-AN-XXV- 

Rev.  Half  figures  of  Honour  and  Truth  joining 
hands,  with  Love  between  them  ;  above,  HOXOR 
AMOR  VERITAS;  below,  M  •  CCC  •  LXXVIII. 
Moulded  border. 

Bronze.    British  Museum.    35  mm.-'''    Pi.  II,  9. 

Catelano  Casali  of  Bologna,  jurisconsult  and 
apostolic  protonotary^"  was,  as  the  dates  on  his 
medal  show,  born  in  1453.  He  died  in  1501. 
This  portrait  is  sometimes  found  joined  to  the 
contemporary  portrait  of  the  Cardinal  of  St. 
George,  to  which  we  now  come. 

20.  Obv.  Bust  r.  of  Raphael  Riario,  in  cap  ; 
around,  RAPHAEL  ANNORVM  •  XVII  •  CAR- 
DIXALIS-S-GEORGII. 

Rev.  St.  George  on  horseback  piercing  the 
Dragon  ;  above,  VIRTVS  (two  rosettes  as  stops) ; 
below,  -M-CCCC-L-XXVIII. 

British  Museum  (lead)  obv.,  and  Rosenheim 
Collection    (bronze)    rev.  36    mm.*    PI.    II,    10. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  end  of  the  medals 
which  it  seems  possible  with  any  degree  of  cer- 
tainty to  attribute  to  Lysippus.  Of  those,  on  the 
other  hand,  wliich  have  any  degree  of  probability 
in  favour  of  their  attribution,  the  medal  of  Candida 
(PI.  Ill,  i)  in  the  possession  of  M.  Gustave  Drey- 
fus easily  takes  the  first  place,  so  broad  and  sym- 
pathetic is  its  treatment.  Indeed  it  far  surpasses 
anything  else  that  we  know  of  Lysippus's  work, 
even  the  mirroi"-medal.  That  is  of  course  no  reason 
for  refusing  him  its  authorship.  But  1  find  it  on 
other  grounds  difficult  to  credit  him  with  this 
beautiful  work,  the  balance  and  composition  of 
which  (as  seen  especially  in  the  proportions  and 
arrangement  of  the  lettering  with  regard  to  the 
bust)  find  no  parallel  in  his  authenticated  medals. 
Again,  charming  as  Lysippus  can  be,  his  portrait- 
ure is  only  skin-deep,  and  this  portrait  of  Candida 
betrays  an  artist  of  great  sympathy  and  imagina- 
tion. Heiss  attributed  it  to  Candida  himself ;  and, 
as  Candida  was  evidently  a  pupil  of  Lysippus,  the 
externalities  of  style  which  recall  the  older  master 
are,  on  this  attribution,  easily  explained.  It  is  by 
a  pupil  of  greater  imaginative  power  than  his 
master,  and  Candida  was  such  a  pupil.  I  am  in- 
clined, therefore,  to  restore  the  medal  to  Candida. 

The  smaller,  circular  medal  of  Candida  (PI.  Ill, 
2)    has   also    been   attributed    to    Lysippus.**      It 

s'Burchard,  ed.  Thuasnc,  I,  p.  314  ;  Ughelli,  VII,  p.  882. 

*'Arm.  11,66,25.    Triangular  stops. 

"  Mentioned  by  Burchard  from  1497  to  1499,  and  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  death,  as  apostolic  protonotary  and  abbrcvi.ator. 
(Ill,  112). 

^  Arm.  II,  57,  iS.     Triangular  stops  on  obv. 

="  First  published  in  '  Le  Gallerie  Nazionali  Italiane,'  I  (1894), 
p.  52,  PI.  xii,  4.  See  .also  II.  de  la  Tour  in  '  Rev.  .Vum.,'  1895, 
p.  463  ;  Kabriczy,  p.  161. 

279 


The  Medallist  Lysippus 

represents  Candida  as  a  youth.  M.  dc  la  Tour  is, 
I  think,  incHned  to  exaggerate  the  youth  of  the 
sitter,  who  may  well  be  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  old,  so  that,  on  this  score,  there  is  no  reason 
against  the  attribution  of  the  piece  to  Candida 
himself.  It  is  a  charming  work,  but  its  low  relief 
and  delicacy  of  execution  are  quite  foreign  to  the 
style  of  Lysippus  as  we  know  it. 

If  Raphael  da  Volterra  is  right,  Lysippus  made 
a  medal  of  Sixtus  IV.  Attempts  have  naturally 
been  made  to  find  among  the  extant  medals  of 
the  pope  something  which  satisfies  our  ideas  of 
Lysippus's  style.  Armand  has,  with  great  hesita- 
tion, suggested  an  attribution  ;'"  Dr.  von  Fabriczy 
informs  me  that  he  considers  another  medal  as 
the  work  of  Lysippus."  This  latter  attribution  has 
one  point  in  its  favour  ;  the  design  of  the  reverse 
(two  saints  placing  a  crown  on  the  head  of  the 
seated  pope,  with  the  inscription  HEC  DAMVS 
IN  TERRIS-AETERNA  DABVNTVROLIMPO) 
looks  like  a  sort  of  travesty  of  some  design 
by  Lysippus's  uncle,  Cristoforo  di  Gereraia.  (This 
will  be  clear  if  we  compare  the  elder  artist's 
medal  of  Alfonso  of  Aragon  on  which  Victory 
and  Mars  crown  the  king.)  But  the  composition 
of  the  reverse  is  crowded  in  a  way  not  affected  by 
Lysippus,  and  the  workmanship  harsher  and  more 
wooden  than  anything  we  have  seen  of  him  at  his 
worst. 

At  the  risk  of  adding  to  the  list  of  conjectural 
attributions,  I  venture  to  attribute  to  Lysippus 
the  medal  of  Sixtus  IV  commemorating  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Ponte  Sisto,  which  was  com- 
pleted in  1475. 

Ohv.  Bust  of  Sixtus  IV,  1.  in  cope ;  around, 
SIXTVS-IIII-PONT-MAX-SACRICVLTOR 

Rev.  The  Ponte  Sisto ;  above,  CVRA  RERVM 
PVBLICARVM.     The  whole  in  oak  wreath. 

Bronze  (gilt  on  obverse),  British  Museum. 
40  mm.*"     PI.  Ill,  3. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  the  case  of  a  series  of 
medals  such  as  the  papal,  where  a  strong  tradition 
prevailed  as  to  the  treatment  of  the  portrait,  it  is 
not  in  the  obverse  but  in  the  reverse  design  that 
we  must  look  for  an  artist's  individual  characteris- 
tics. This  reverse  design  may,  without  exaggera- 
tion, be  said  to  show  certain  Lysippean  charac- 
teristics. Apart  from  the  general  feeling  of  the 
design,  we  may  notice  the  fine  '  Augustan ' 
lettering,  the  treatment  of  the  water,  comparing  it 
with  the  '  Nursia'  medal  of  Toscani,  PL  I,  4,  and 
the  wreath  (as  on  the  other  medals  of  Toscani,  PL 
I,  7,  II,  i).  It  is,  at  any  rate,  impossible  to  say 
that  there  is  anything  in  this  design  which  is 
either  unworthy  or  uncharacteristic  of  Lysippus, 
or  above  the  level  of  his  achievement. 


^"Armand  I,  56.4. 
•"Armand  II,  62.1, 
■■-Armand  II,  62.3.    Keary,  'Guide  to  Italian  Medals,' No. 312. 

280 


Dr.  Bode  has  attributed  to  our  artist  an  in- 
teresting medal  of  Diomede  Caraffa,  which  is 
represented  here  from  the  specimen  in  the  Bar- 
gello.  *' 

Obv.  Bust  of  Caraffa  r.  in  cap ;  round, 
DYOMEDES  CARRAFA  COMES  MATALVNI 
EXEMPL  FIDEI  SALP. 

Rev.  Female  figure  standing  1.,  holding  in  1. 
cornucopiae,  in  r.  a  branch  and  a  staff  (round 
which  twines  a  snake  whose  head  appears  over 
her  r.  arm  ?)  ;  at  her  feet  an  altar  with  a  serpent 
rising  above  it,  a  small  vase,  and  a  wheel  (?);  in 
the  exergue,  FININTANTO ;  around,  ERGA 
SVVM  REGEM   ET  PATRIAM. 

Florence.     40  mm.     PL   III,  4. 

Beside  this,  on  the  ground  of  resemblance  in  the 
treatment  of  the  bust,  we  must  place  the  third 
medal  of  Francisco  Vidal  : — • 

Obv.  Bust  of  Vidal  r.  in  cap  ;  behind,  a  wreath  ; 
around  FRANCISCVS  VITALIS  NOIANVS 
REGIS  HISPANIAE  MAGISTER. 

Rev.  Within  a  conventional  wreath  the  inscrip- 
tion IXGENII  DOCTRINAE  LEPORISQVE 
AC  PROBITATIS  PRINCIPIVM  ETCVLMEN, 

Paris,  Bibliotheque  Nationale.     39.5  mm.  "    PL 

111,5- 

I  confess  that,  on  comparing  these  two  medals 
with  those  represented  on  Plates  I  and  II,  I  find 
it  impossible  to  regard  them  as  by  Lysippus.  In 
some  ways  the  portraits  have  considerably  more 
character ;  the  lettering,  both  in  itself  and  in  its 
relation  to  the  types,  is  completely  diliferent. 
Vidal  is  here  a  good  deal  older  than  on  the  medals 
with  the  ivy-leaves  described  above.  In  a  period 
of  some  ten  years,  Lysippus  might,  it  is  true,  have 
changed  his  style  considerably.  But  that  is  an 
argument  which  can  only  be  used  successfully 
when  there  is  documentary  evidence  for  an 
attribution. 

Of  this  doubtful  class  of  medals,  then,  I  regard 
the  Ponte  Sisto  medal  of  Sixtus  IV,  and  M. 
Dreyfus's  portrait  of  Candida  as  having  a  cer- 
tain presumption  to  be  the  work  of  Lysippus  ; 
while  the  attribution  of  the  rest  seems  to  me  very 
hazardous. 

We  have  still  to  consider  a  few  medals  which, 
in  spite  of  the  authority  of  such  critics  as  Dr.  Bode 
and  Dr.  von  Fabriczy,  I  venture  to  regard  as 
possessing  only  the  most  shadowy  claim  to  tlie 


^^  Armand  III.  176  B  :  Supino  163.  Caraffa  became  Count  of 
Mataloni  in  1465  and  of  Corretta  in  1480.  Ttie  last  four  letters 
of  the  obverse  inscription  are  very  puzzling.  If  they  are  omitted 
the  inscription  reads  intelligibly,  being  continued  on  the  reverse: 
exemplum  fidei  erga  suum  regem  et  patriam.  The  figure  on 
the  reverse  has  some  of  the  attributes  of  the  Koman  Salus,  and 
if  these  four  letters  were  on  the  reverse  they  might  be  interpreted 
as  '  Salus  Publica.'  Is  it  possible  that  the  medallist  misunder- 
stood the  arrangement  of  the  inscription  prescribed  for  him, 
transferring  to  the  obverse  what  ought  to  have  been  on  the 
reverse  ? 

^^  Armand  II,  61.14. 


9,     10 


MEDALS   BY    LYSII'l'LS 
I'LATE    II 


^ 


8 
9 


MEDALS   ATTKIBl'TED   TO    LYSIPPUS 
PLATE   in 


authorship  ascribed  to  them."  In  some  cases  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  give  reasons  for  refusing  to 
acknowledge  them  as  the  work  of  Lysippus,  beyond 
saying  that  one  cannot  recognize  his  hand  in  them. 

The  medal  of  Pier  Paolo  Millini '"  (a  papal 
scriptor)"  is  interesting,  though  by  no  means  a 
first-rate  work  (Pl.III,  6).  As  Mr.  Rosenheim  points 
out,  rather  than  anything  of  the  character  of 
Lysippus,  it  shows  various  traces  of  the  influence 
of  another  medallist,  whom  we  know  chiefly 
through  the  researches  of  Dr.  von  Fabriczy.  That 
is  Adriano  Fiorentino.  The  treatment  of  the  bust, 
with  the  curious  swelling  of  the  shoulder,  exag- 
gerates a  characteristic  trick  of  Adriano's.  Adriano, 
again,  as  in  the  reverse  of  the  medal  of  Elisabeth 
of  Urbino,  places  his  figure  on  a  broad  and 
rather  badly  rendered  mass  of  rock  ;  here  the 
rocky  ground  is  broader  still  and  worse  rendered. 
His  reverse  legends  tend  to  brevity;  here  the  legend 
consists  of  the  single  word  PERFER.  In  fact  I 
regard  this  medal  as  the  work  of  a  mediocre  artist 
of  the  school  of  Adriano. 

The  medal  of  Lucas  de  Zuharis  (PI.  Ill,  7)  has 
been  attributed  by  Armand  "-^  to  Ruberto,  and  that 
attribution  certainly  seems  to  indicate  correctly 
at  least  the  school  to  which  it  belongs.  Subject, 
treatment,  lettering,  relief  all  point  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Ruberto  and  L'Antico.  We  may 
note,  for  instance,  the  ornamental  filling  of  the 
exergue,  recalling  the  trophy-ornaments  character- 
istic of  a  series  of  North  Italian  plaquettesby  I-F'P', 
an  artist  of  the  school  of  L'Antico,  and  by  other 
artists,  whose  work  has  been  lumped  together 
under    the   quite    incorrect   heading   '  Melioli.'  *'■* 

Neither  in  relief,  in  composition,  nor  in  lettering 
is  the  style  of  Lysippus  easily  recognized  in  the 
medal  of  Giambattista  Orsini,  on  the  reverse  of 

"From  information  kindly  comrnunicated  tome  by  Dr.  von 
Fabriczy,  I  have  learnt  that,  in  addition  to  the  attributions  which 
have  already  appeared  in  print,  he  gives  to  Lysippus  the  medal 
of  Sixtus  IV  (already  mentioned)  and  those  of  Giambattista 
Orsini  and  Lucas  de  Zuharis,  discussed  below,  while  Dr.  Bode 
adds  to  the  list  the  medals  of  Marcello  Capodiferro  and  Gian- 
francesco  Rangoni. 

^8  Armand  II,  76.14.  Diam.  77  mm.  Paris  and  Turin.  The 
Paris  specimen  is  illustrated  here. 

■"  Mentioned  as  such  by  Burchard  from  1497  to  1499. 

•■**  Armand  II,  101.15.  Diam.  40  mm.  Other  specimens  in  the 
Museo  Artistico,  Milan,  and  in  the  British  Museum  (lead). 

"  P'or  illustrations  of  a  number  of  these  plaquettes  see  the 
Berlin  Catalogue  of  Bronzes,  Mos.  960,  g6t,  962,  963.  Mr. 
Rosenheim  points  out  that  the  signature  on  No.  960  is  I  ■  F  •  P, 
not  1  •  F-  F  •  The  plaquettes  of  this  class  are  quite  distinct  from 
those  signed  lO  •  F  •  F  .  The  signature  1  ■  K  •  P-  also  occurs  on 
some  specimens  (as  in  the  Dreyfus  collection)  of  the  plaquette 
Berlin  833  =  Molinier  257.  This  artist  has  much  in  common 
with  the  artist  of  the  medal  of  Diva  lulia  (Arm.  I,  81.2),  "ene- 
rally  supposed  to  be  Ruberto,  but  conclusively  proved  "by  a 
signature  ANTICVS  incised  on  the  lower  side  of  ihe  exergual 
line,  in  the  British  Museum  and  other  specimens,  to  be  L'Antico. 
The  whole  question  of  this  group  of  plaqUL-ttesand  medals,  and 
of  the  relation  between  L'Antico  and  11  Modcrno,  remains  to  be 
worked  out.  Dr.  Bode  has  already  hinted  that  L'Antico  and  II 
Moderno  are  the  same  man— a  paradox  which,  considering  the 
resemblance  in  style  between  the  works  so  variously  signed 
seems  to  convey  a  go  )d  deal  of  truth.  ('Zeitschr.  fiir  bild' 
Kunst,'  Nov.,  1904,  p.  37.) 


The  Medallist  Lysippus 

which,  with  the  legend  EXPERIOR,  is  a  unicorn 
purifymg  a  source  with  his  horn.-'"  Orsini  stood 
high  in  the  favour  of  various  popes  from  147 1  to 
1500,  and  Lysippus  doubtless  knew  him,  but  this 
seems  to  be  the  only  presumption  in  favour  of  the 
attribution  of  his  portrait  to  our  artist. 

A  medal  of  Fabrizio  Varano,  bishop  of  Came- 
rino,  has  been  ascribed  by  Dr.  Bode,  with  Dr. 
von  Fabriczy's  concurrence,  to  Lysippus. 

Obv.  Bust  of  Fabrizio  Varano  to  1.,  in  cap  ; 
around,  FABRITIVS  VARANEVS  GAMERS 
APO  PROTONOTARI. 

Rev.  Euterpe,  leaning  against  a  tree  and  playing 
on  a  pipe ;  at  her  feet  a  large  ring  or  hoop  ; 
around,  DILEGTANS  CALAMOS  DVLGITER 
ORE  CIET;  across  the  field  EYTEPHH  (in  cursive 
characters.) 

Bardini  collection.     43  mm.     PI.  Ill,  8. 

The  traces  of  the  style  of  Lysippus  in  this  medal 
are  extremely  faint,  and  comparison  with  the  work 
of  Niccolo  Fiorentino  shows  that  we  have  to  deal 
with  an  artist,  and  a  very  mediocre  artist,  of  his 
school.  If,  for  instance,  we  place  the  bust  on  the 
obverse  beside  the  bust  of  Lorenzo  Tornabuoni,-'' 
and  the  reverse,  with  its  grotesquely  stumpy  figure 
of  Euterpe,  beside  the  Florentia  reverse  of  the 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici,^'  the  aiBliation  becomes  very 
clear. 

Fabrizio  Varano  was  created  protonotary  apos- 
tolic by  Sixtus  IV  ;  in  1482  he  became  bishop  of 
Gamerino.  He  died  in  1508.  A  medal  of  this 
obscure  man  of  letters,  with  a  facing  portrait,  and 
the  same  subject  and  legend  as  we  have  described 
on  the  reverse,  is  given  liy  Litta*' ;  but,  to  judge 
from  his  engraving,  it  appears  to  be  a  late  restora- 
tion, possibly  even  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

An  illustration  in  the  work  of  Mazzuchelli  ■'' 
records  a  medal  of  Giovanni  Aurispa.  It  used  to 
be  attributed  to  Pisanello  ;  but  the  portrait  of  the 
humanist  which  Pisanello  made  was  probably  a 
painting  rather  than  a  medal.-^  Both  Armand  and 
Heiss,  judging  from  the  illustration,  have  regarded 
it  as  a  '  restoration/  which  may  have  been  made 
at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  or  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Dr.  Bode  describes  it  as 
showing  quite  clearly  the  marks  of  Lysippus's 
style  Cganz  seinen  Gharakter'),  and  adds  that 
Lysippus  made  a  medal  of  Ippolito  Aurispa, 
a  relation  of  the  humanist.  As  we  have  seen 
above,  the  identification  of  Parthenius  with 
Ippolito  Aurispa  seems  to  require  verification.  It 
is,  of  course,  impossible  to  base  a  decision  on 
Mazzuchelli's  reproduction.  Fortunately,  how- 
ever,  we   have   better   mems   of   judging,    for   a 

^'Arm.  II,  U6.42.  For  Orsini's  c.ireer  see  Ltta,  '  OrMiii,' 
Tav.  viii.  ' 

"'  Fabriczy,  PI.  xxiv,  5. 

"■-Id.,  PI.  xxiii,  I. 

^»' Varano,'  Tav.  I. 

"  I,  X,  6. 

'-■'  For  a  discussion  of  this  point  I  may  refer  to  my  '  Pisanello  ' 
pp.  188  £. 

285 


The  Medallist  Lysippus 

specimen  of  the  medal  exists  in  the  Maseo 
artistico  at  Milan.  From  tiiis  it  is  abundantly 
clear  that  the  piece  is  a  restoration  made  in  the 
late  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  century.  The  bust 
is  in  high  relief,  and  shows  no  character  whatever  ; 
the  lettering  is  feeble,  and  the  ornaments  which 
help  it  out  are  paltry.  Mazzuchelli's  illustration, 
for  once,  is  hardly  unfair  to  the  original. 

The  Milan  Museum  is  also  the  possessor  of  an 
apparently  unique  medal  of  Gabriel  de'  Gabrielli, 
Cardinal  of  S.  Prassede  : — 

Obv.  Bust  to  1.  of  the  Cardinal,  in  berretta  and 
hood;  around,  GABRIEL- CARDINALIS  •  S- 
PRAXEDIS.^ 

Rev.  In  a  wreath  the  inscription  KAAON  | 
TEPOXTA  I  KAI  TAA  |  AHXJ2X  |  MAeEIX, 

Milan,  Museo  artistico.     35  mm.     PI.  Ill,  9. 

This  medal  Dr.  Bode  describes  as  'probably' 
by  Lj'sippus.  If  he  is  right,  it  belongs  to  a  late 
stage  in  the  artist's  development,  of  which  we 
have  no  other  examples.  Gabriel  de' Gabrielli,  a 
native  of  Fano,  was  made  cardinal  of  S.  Prassede  in 
1505.  He  died  in  1511.  The  medal  must,  there- 
fore, have  been  made  between  these  two  dates, 
and  we  have  no  certain  work  of  Lysippus  which 
is  as  late  as  this.  The  Greek  inscription  on  the 
reverse  of  the  medal  is  a  puzzle  ;  an  iambic  senarius 
seems  to  be  aimed  at,  but  with  scant  success  ;  and 
of  TAAAHNfiX  I  can  obtain  no  explanation  which 
will  save  the  metre.^'  This  blunder  in  the  Greek 
is  an  additional  reason  for  refusing  to  accept  the 
attribution  of  the  medal  to  Lysippus. 

Finally  the  medals  of  Marcello  Capodiferro 
(PI.  1 1 1,  10)  and  Gianfrancesco  Rangoni''''  must,  it  is 
to  be  feared,  also  be  ruled  out  on  grounds  of  style. 

The    fact    is  that  Lysippus,   an    artist    of    ex- 

'■''  Triangular  stops  on  obv.  There  is  a  break  in  the  edge  of 
the  medal  which  has  mutilated  some  kind  of  ornament  at  the 
enl  of  the  legend. 

""  Mr.  F.  G.  Kenyon  suggests  TA  EAAHX«X.  This,  though 
it  males  a  bad  verse,  is  at  least  intelligible,  if  we  suppose  that 
the  Cardinal  only  began  to  learn  Greek  in  his  old  age. 

«.4rmand  III,  178  C,  11,93.19. 


treme  limitations,  and  perhaps  rather  an  ama- 
teur than  a  professional,  has,  thanks  to  a  certain 
charm  which  pervades  much  of  his  work,  been 
rated  somewhat  higher  than  he  deserves.  He 
exhibits,  in  the  twenty  or  so  medals  which  are 
certainly  from  his  hand,  strongly  marked  external 
characteristics,  combined  with  small  grasp  of 
personal  character.  Such  artists  often  show  con- 
siderable facility  of  execution  in  portraiture,  and 
generally  fail  altogether  in  designing  reverses. 
And  to  such  artists,  simply  because  they  offer 
many  points  of  external  contact,  it  is  tempting  to 
attach  singly  many  works  which,  when  brought 
together,  are  seen  to  be  mutually  incompatible. 
The  incompatibility  of  the  medals  reproduced  on 
PI.  Ill  can  hardly  be  matter  of  dispute.  In  the 
criticism  of  the  work  of  a  medallist,  as  of  any 
other  artist,  one  has  to  proceed  from  a  group  of 
works  demonstrably  assignable  to  him  on  the 
ground  of  signature,  external  peculiarities,  or 
circumstantial  evidence.  (In  this  case  our  base 
is  provided  by  the  medals  i  to  20.)  If  the  artist 
is  a  great  artist,  from  this  group  we  may  next 
extract,  so  to  speak,  the  idea  of  him,  and  so  proceed 
to  attribute  to  him  other  works  which  do  not 
necessarily  possess  the  merely  external  character- 
istics of  the  first  group.  But  if,  like  Lysippus,  he 
is  not  a  great  artist,  then  his  style  conceals  nothing 
more  essential  than  those  external  characteristics, 
and  on  them,  and  them  alone,  can  satisfactory 
attributions  be  based.  The  impression  that 
Lysippus  leaves  on  our  minds  is  of  an  amiable 
young  man,  without  a  strong  artistic  individuality, 
and  with  correspondingly  little  power  of  invention, 
exercising  a  pleasing  talent  for  the  benefit  of  his 
numerous  friends  among  the  notabilities  (especi- 
ally the  minor  notabilities)  of  the  Papal  Court 
from  about  1475  to  1490.  To  assign  to  him  the 
large  portrait  of  Giovanni  Candida  or  the  medal 
of  Diomede  Caraffa  is,  it  seems  to  me,  to  regard 
him  too  seriously,  to  credit  him  with  a  strength  of 
artistic  individuality  which  he  does  not  possess. 


SOME  CONSTABLE  PUZZLES 
^  BY  C.  J.  HOLMES  rjk? 


HE  future  historian  of  the 
British  School  will  find  him- 
self faced  by  a  singular  difii- 
culty.  Before  the  foundation 
of  the  Royal  Academy  he 
will  have  to  make  his  way 
through  a  chaos — illumined 
here  and  there  perhaps  by  a 
ight,  but  still  a  chaos  in  which 
no  labour  or  learning  can  ever  hope  to  find  a  firm 
and  open  road.  After  that  eventful  date,  thanks  to 
the  labours  of  Mr.  Algernon  Graves,  he  will  suffer 
from  excess  of  solid  material  rather  than  from  the 
want  of  it.     In  the  earlier  period  even  the  great 

286 


faint  glimmer 


figures  will  still  be  enveloped  in  a  mist  of  uncertainty, 
while  of  the  less  there  will  be  no  memorial  at  all: 
in  the  later  there  will  be  memorials  of  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  paintings  good  and  bad, 
of  which  hardly  one  in  a  hundred  can  now  be 
identified. 

For  this  all-important  business  of  identification 
Mr.  Graves's  latest  volume  '  is  perhaps  more  valu- 
able than  all  its  predecessors  put  together,  for  the 
simple  reason  that  up  to  the  year  1852  the  British 
Institution  printed  in  its  catalogues   the  outside, 

'  The  British  Institution,  1806— 1867.  By  Algernon  Graves 
F.S.A,  London:  G,  Bell,  and  Algernon  Graves,  42  Old  Bond 
Street,     /j  3s.  net. 


Some  Constable  Puzzles 


measurement  of  each  exhibit.  Further,  Mr.  Graves 
states  that  with  very  few  exceptions,  and  these  only 
during  the  eadier  years  of  the  Institution's  existence, 
drawings  were  not  included.  Portraits,  too,  were 
rarely  shown,  so  that  the  catalogue  is  practically 
devoted  to  figure  subjects  and  landscapes  in  oil, 
and  to  sculpture. 

Instead  of  attempting  to  deal  with  the  vast  body 
of  matter  which  the  volume  contains  (in  looking 
over  it  for  the  first  time  some  eighty  names  called 
for  notice),  it  will,  perhaps,  be  more  interesting  to 
illustrate  its  usefulness  by  discussing  very  briefly 
the  corrections  it  necessitates  in  the  case  of  a  single 
artist  whose  history  seems  more  or  less  complete. 

The  entry  preceding  John  Constable's  exhibits 
is  that  of  a  painting  by  a  namesake,  George  Con- 
stable junior,  of  Arundel — a  son,  apparently,  of 
Constable's  old  friend  and  patron.  These  Arundel 
Constables,  as  the  pictures  still  preserved,  I  believe, 
in  their  brewery  prove,  were  amateurs  of  more 
than  common  skill.  Indeed,  a  collection  of  oil 
sketches  by  one  of  them  was  exhibited  in  London 
only  a  short  time  ago,  and  passed  as  the  work  of 
John  Constable,  R.A.,  with  all  but  two  or  three 
of  the  press  critics. 

Leslie  states  that  John  Constable  '  never  painted 
any  considerable  picture'  from  the  admirable 
sketches  which  he  made  in  the  Lake  District 
in  1806.  Yet  the  very  first  entry  under  that 
artist's  name  indicates  that  this  statement  must 
not  be  pressed  too  far,  since  the  Mountainous 
Scene  in  IVestinoreland  of  1808  measured  3  ft.  4  in. 
by  4  ft.,  including  its  frame,  and  was  therefore 
nearly  as  large  in  area  as  the  Salisbury  from  the 
Bishop's  Garden.  Mr.  Graves's  measurements 
compel  me  to  admit  some  mistakes  in  my  own 
tentative  catalogue  of  Constable's  work.  There  a 
Mountain  Scene,  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Lionel 
Phillips,  was  described  as  possibly  identical  with 
one  of  Constable's  exhibited  between  the  years 
1807  and  1809.  The  figures  remove  this  possi- 
bility, and  with  it,  perhaps,  something  of  the 
certainty  of  the  attribution,  since  the  style  closely 
resembles  that  of  Watts.  The  Keswick  Lake  of 
1809  must  have  had  a  frame  six  inches  wide,  a 
large  allowance  in  those  days  for  a  small  panel. 
The  Landscape  Scene  in  Suffolk, shown  in  1813,  will 
agree  in  dimensions  with  the  picture  of  Dcdiiain 
Vale,  dated  1812,  shown  last  winter  by  Messrs. 
Agnew,  and  described  in  The  Burlington 
Magazine,  November,  1907  (Vol.  xii,  p.  74). 

The  two  entries  for  1814  are  so  puzzling  as  to 
call  for  more  extensive  notice.  In  a  letter,  dated 
i8th  February  of  that  year  (Leslie,  chap,  iii). 
Miss  Bicknell  writes  to  Constable:  'You  have 
both  surprised,  deceived  and  pleased  me.  How 
could  you  say  there  was  no  picture  of  yours  at 
the  British  Gallery?  I  think  the  cats  excessively 
pretty,  comical  creatures,'  The  words  seem  to 
imply  rather  strongly  that  Constable  had  only  one 


picture,  and  that  an  unimportant  one,  in  the 
exhibition.  Leslie  in  a  note  refers  to  the  picture 
of  Tivo  Martin  Cats  as  a  small  one,  and  makes  no 
mention  of  any  other  exhibit  accompanying  it. 
On  the  next  page  he  refers  to  the  extraordinary 
event  of  two  pictures  being  sold  in  this  year — 
'  a  small  one  exhibited  at  the  British  Gallery 
to  Mr.  Allnutt,  and  a  large  one  of  a  Lock  to 
Mr.  James  Carpenter.' 

Here  we  have  a  curious  instance  of  the  mistakes 
that  may  arise  from  depending  on  correspondence 
for  information.  Miss  Bicknell  had  apparently 
been  told  by  Constable  that  he  was  exhibiting  no 
pictures  at  the  British  Institution.  She  finds  one 
picture,  the  Martin  Cats,  but  seems  to  have  entirely 
overlooked  a  still  larger  one.  Landscape :  A  Lock  on 
the  Stour,  which  was  more  than  four  feet  square, 
Leslie  adds  that  the  Martin  Cats  was  a  small  picture  : 
it  measured  3  ft.  by  4  ft.  4  in.  Then  when  we  come 
to  the  sales  we  should  naturally  conclude  that, 
since  Mr.  Carpenter  bought  The  Lock,  the  smaller 
picture  bought  by  Mr.  AUnutt  was  the  Martin  Cats. 
Yet  on  the  next  page  to  the  statement  about  the 
sales  we  find  a  letter  from  Mr.  Allnutt  (written,  it  is 
true,  in  1843)  indicating  beyond  all  possible  doubt 
that  the  picture  he  bought  at  the  British  Institution 
was  a  landscape  !  Constable's  own  saying  quoted 
in  the  same  letter  seems  to  confirm  Mr.  Allnutt's 
statement  that  the  picture  was  purchased  at  the 
British  Institution  and  not  at  the  Royal  Academy. 
He  is  described  as  mentioning  it  specially  as  the 
first  picture  he  ever  sold  to  a  stranger.  Now 
Constable  had  written  on  12th  April  to  announce 
to  Mr.  Watts  that  he  had  just  sold  The  Lock  to  Mr. 
Carpenter,  that  is  to  say  before  the  Royal  Academy 
was  opened,  so  the  Allnutt  purchase,  to  be  still 
earlier  in  date,  must  also  have  been  made  from  the 
British  Institution,  as  Mr.  Allnutt  himself  stated  in 
his  letter. 

Yet  all  this  evidence,  first  hand  as  it  is,  is  worth- 
less. Mr,  Graves  first  proves  that  there  was  no 
Constable  landscape  at  the  British  Institution 
except  The  Lock ;  then  the  saleroom  records  show 
that  Mr,  Allnutt  bought  his  picture  at  the 
Royal  Academy  at  least  three  weeks  after  Mr. 
Carpenter  bought  his  I  This  landscape,  A  Ploughing 
Scene  in  Suffolk,  fetched  98  guineas  at  Mr.  Allnutt's 
sale  in  1863,  and  was  number  28  in  the  Royal 
Academy  of  18 14. 

I  have  mentioned  these  dull  and  trivial  details 
at  some  length,  simply  because  it  is  impossible  in 
any  other  way  to  show  how  Mr.  Graves's  catalogues 
detect  weak  points  in  our  knowledge,  even  where 
we  have  every  reason  for  supposing  it  to  be 
complete.  Here  we  iiave  Constable  himself,  his 
fiancee,  his  admirable  and  most  careful  biographer, 
and  one  of  his  patrons  all  making  statements 
which  three  entries  in  Mr,  Graves's  catalogue 
show  to  be  incorrect,  incompatible  with  c;ich 
other,  and  impossible. 

287 


^  NOTES  ON  VARIOUS  WORKS  OF  ART  ^ 


NEW  LIGHT  ON  PISANELLO 
SiGNOR  Giuseppe  Biadego,  the  distinguished 
librarian  of  the  Biblioteca  Comunale  at  Verona, 
has  recently  published  in  the  '  Atti  del  R.  Istituto 
Veneto  '  (torn.  67)  some  striking  discoveries  made 
among  the  documents  under  his  care.  As  his 
publication  is  not  likely  to  meet  the  eyes  of  many 
Englishmen,  it  seems  desirable  to  communicate 
the  gist  of  it  to  readers  of  The  Burlington 
Magazine.  To  begin  with  the  most  sensational 
item  :  the  real  name  of  the  painter  and  medallist 
Pisanello  was  not  Vittore,  but  Antonio  Pisano. 
Apart  from  Vasari,  there  is  no  known  foundation 
for  the  name  Vittore,  except  in  an  entirely  worth- 
less signature  on  a  picture  formerly  described  by 
dal  Pozzo  at  Verona  and  now  at  Berlin.  The 
signature  '  Opera  d.  Vetore  Pisanelo  de  San  Vi 
Verone  MCCCCXI '  is  universally  acknowledged 
to  be  either  wholly  or  in  part  a  forgery,  and  the 
picture  belongs  to  the  school  of  Squarcione.  But 
the  forgery  is  an  early  one,  and  was  probably 
known  to  Era  IMarco  Medici,  from  whom  Vasari 
obtained  information  about  Pisanello's  work  at 
Verona.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  only  by 
assuming  incredible  coincidences  that  one  can 
reject  the  conclusions  drawn  by  Signor  Biadego 
from  the  new  documents  which  he  publishes. 
For  instance  : — 

In  1433,  in  the  contrada  di  S.  Paolo,  there  were 
living  together  Isabetta,  widow  of  Filippo  da 
Ostiglia,  aged  70  ;  her  son  Antonius  Pisanus 
pictor,  aged  36  ;  his  daughter  Camilla,  aged  4. 
From  earlier  documents  it  appears  that  Isabetta, 
when  she  married  Filippo,  was  widow  of  Bartolo- 
meo  da  Pisa  ;  that  Filippo  had  no  children  by  her  ; 
and  hence  that  the  father  of  Antonio  was  Bar- 
tolomeo  da  Pisa,  himself  probably  identical  with 
a  son  of  Enrico  da  Pisa  who  was  living  at  Venice 
in  1366.  Isabetta  herself  seems  to  have  been 
Veronese. 

■  On  3rd  December,  1438,  the  same  Isabetta  made 
her  will,  naming  as  her  heirs  Bona,  wife  of 
Bartolomeo  di  Andrea  dalla  Levata,  and  Antonio 
Pisano,  her  legitimate  children. 

In  July,  1441,  '  Pisan  pentor  operando  male  in 
casa  de  Andrea  de  la  Levada '  is  mentioned  in  an 
official  list  of  fuorusciti,  citizens  of  Verona.  In 
the  same  list  appears  Bartolomeo  dalla  Eevata, 
brother-in-law  'del  Pisan  pentor  rebello.'  (We 
already  knew  that  '  Pisanus  pictor  '  was  one  of  the 
rebels  of  1438,  and  certainly  did  not  return  to 
Verona  until  after  1442).  On  21st  November,  1442, 
'Antonius  pictor  dictus  pisanus'  presented  himself 
at  Venice,  and  obtained  leave  to  go  to  Ferrara  on 
business,  on  condition  that  he  did  not  go  to 
Verona  or  Veronese  territory,  or  to  Mantua  or 
the  territory  of  the  Marquis  of  Mantua.  Accord- 
ingly, on  15th  February,  1442  (1443  N.S.)  he  left 
Venice  for  two  months.  We  already  knew  that  on 
27th  February,  1443,  he  was  at  Ferrara. 
On    13th   November,    1442,    Bartolomeo    dalla 

288 


Levata  claims  in  the  name  of  his  wife  (Bona)  a 
piece  of  land  formerly  belonging  to  her  mother 
Isabetta,  recently  deceased. 

In  1443  (in  a  register  based  on  a  census  made 
/;/  tJic previous  year)  we  find  '  Pisanellus  pictor  cum 
matre  '  living  in  the  contrada  di  S.  Paolo  ;  and  in 
1445  and  1446  '  Antonius  Pisanellus  pictor '  was 
renting  from  the  monastery  of  S.  Maria  in  Organo 
a  house  in  the  same  contrada. 

On  14th  July,  1455,  Bartolomeo  di  Andrea  dalla 
Levata,  in  making  his  will,  mentions  a  large  sum 
of  money  owing  to  him  from  his  brother-in-law, 
Antonio  Pisano,  and  Isabetta,  mother  of  the  same 
Antonio.  The  debt  was  evidently  contracted 
before  Isabetta's  death,  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
took  place  before  13th  November,  1442,  but  con- 
tinued to  stand  in  the  names  of  her  and  her  son. 

But  if  Isabetta  was  dead,  Antonio  must  still 
have  been  alive ;  for,  had  both  the  debtors 
disappeared,  the  debt  must  either  have  been 
settled,  or  transferred  to  the  account  of  their  heirs. 
A  much  vexed  question  is  thus  answered.  Opinions 
have  varied  as  to  the  date  of  Pisanello's  death, 
inclining  rather  to  the  5'ear  1 45 1.  I  have  argued 
elsewhere  ('Pisanello'  p.  213)  in  favour  of  the 
alternative  date,  1455  ;  and  the  new  evidence 
makes  it  practically  certain  that  it  is  the  recent 
death  of  Pisanello,  and  not  of  some  nameless 
garzone  of  his,  that  Carlo  de'  Medici  refers  to  in 
a  letter  of  31st  October,  1455. 

Pisanello  was  therefore  born  in  1397  (since  he 
was  36  in  1433)  and  died  in  October,  1455.  If  his 
mother  was  a  Veronese,  his  father  was  a  Pisan  ; 
and  this  explains  the  phrase  '  Pisanellus  de  Pisis ' 
in  a  Neapolitan  document  of  1449. 

Since  the  artist  was  born  in  1397,  his  Venetian 
frescoes  must  be  assigned  to  about  1422,  and  not, 
as  seemed  possible,  to  a  slightly  earlier  date.  The 
documents  of  1443,  1445  and  1446  show  that  it  is 
less  certain  than  it  seemed  that  the  great  fresco 
of  S.  Anastasia  was  painted  not  later  than  1438. 
Nevertheless,  since  it  is  clear  from  other  sources 
that  the  artist,  though  he  had  a  house  in  Verona, 
was  very  fully  occupied  elsewhere  during  the 
whole  period  from  1438  onward,  the  early  date  of 
the  fresco  still  remains  most  probable.  We  see  that 
on  leaving  Rome  in  1432  he  went  to  Verona,  and 
the  fresco  may,  therefore,  reasonably  be  dated 
between  1433  and  1438. 

Let  us  hope  that  Signor  Biadego  will  continue 
his  invaluable  researches  and  discover  documents 
bearing  directly  on  the  works,  and  not  merely  on 
the  biography,  of  the  great  Veronese  artist. 

G.  F.  Hill. 

THE  CRACKS  IN  THE  CEILING  OF  THE 

SISTINE  CHAPEL 
In  a  review  in  the  May  number  of  THE  Burling- 
ton Mag.\zine'  attention  was  called  to  a  statement 

1  Vol    xiii,  r-  8S  (May,  1908). 


CENTRAL   I'DKTUiN'    111-    THK   SISTIXK   CKII-INC,   WITII 
TIIK     XATIHAI,     CNACKS     MAKKKI)     IN      iil.ACK      INK 


A 


s') 


TIIK   CKAL'KS   IN    Illl-    CIlI.INCi   Ol-    THK   SISTINK   CHAPEL 


in  Sir  Hubert  von  Herkomer's  new  book,  '  My 
School  and  My  Gospel,'  to  the  effect  that  many 
of  the  cracks  in  the  ceiHng  of  the  Sistine  Chapel 
are  painted.  The  passage  referred  to  is  as 
follows  (p.  99)  : — 

'Michelangelo,  that  austere  colossus,  who  lived 
alone  with  his  art,  had  a  distinctly  sly  side  to  his 
nature.  I  wonder  if  it  is  generally  known  to  what 
tricks  he  resorted  in  order  to  circumvent  the 
command  of  the  Pope  to  decorate,  in  fresco,  the 
ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  although  the  Pope 
knew  he  had  set  his  heart  on  a  great  scheme  of 
sculpture  ?  He  had  not  painted  frescoes,  and  did 
not  want  the  job.  But  as  he  was  not  let  off,  he 
bethought  himself  of  some  way  by  which  he 
could  prove  to  the  Pope  that  he  did  not  under- 
stand the  necessary  technique.  So  when  he  had 
covered  some  space,  he  asked  for  a  visit  from  the 
Pope,  that  he  could  see  with  his  own  eyes  that  he 
was  blundering  with  the  material.  Naturally  the 
Holy  Father  did  not  mount  the  scaffolding,  but 
from  below  he  could  distinctly  see  that  Michel- 
angelo's work  was  already  cracking.  A  few  years 
ago  this  ceiling  was  being  restored,  and  a  friend 
of  mine  was  privileged  to  examine,  at  close 
quarters,  these  incomparable  frescoes.  He  then 
saw  many  cracks,  natural  cracks,  but  he  also  saw 
that  nearly  half  the  cracks  were  cracks  painted 
by  Michelangelo  himself.  Clever  trick,  but  futile, 
fortunately  for  future  generations.' 

It  is,  as  the  reviewer  remarks,  curious  that  so 
interesting  a  discovery  should  never  before  have 
found  its  way  into  print,  but  of  the  facts  there  is 
no  doubt.  Signor  Gaetano  Pedo,  the  well-known 
photographer,  of  130  Via  Sistina,  Rome,  who  was 
also  among  those  who  saw  the  fresco  at  close 
quarters  during  its  restoration,  writes  in  answer  to 
an  inquiry,  '  With  regard  to  the  ceiling  of  the 
Sistine  Chapel,  most,  but  not  all,  of  the  cracks 
seen  crossing  the  figures  have  been  made  by 
Michelangelo  himself  artificially.'  Signor  Pedo  has 
also  sent  me  the  accompanying  photograph,  on 
which  have  been  traced  in  ink  all  those  cracks 
which  are  not  artificial.  These  are  due  partly  to 
the  effects  of  age  and  damp,  just  as  the  surface 
has  suffered  from  dust  and  the  smoke  of  the 
altar  candles,  but  above  all  to  the  explosion  of  a 
powder-magazine  within  the  walls  of  the  Vatican, 
which  occurred  about  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  This  explosion  was  the  cause  of 
the  fall  of  a  large  portion  of  the  plaster  above  the 
Delphic  Sibyl,  and  involved  the  loss  of  one  of  the 
smaller  figures.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  real 
cracks  run  for  the  most  part  along  the  flat  centre 
of  the  ceiling  and  from  end  to  end  of  the  chapel, 
as  w^e  should  expect,  since  they  are  mainly  due  to 
shocks  affecting,  or  the  slight  subsidence  of,  the 
walls.  The  painted  cracks,  however,  follow  no  such 
regular  plan,  and  appear  to  be  directed  merely  by 
the  caprice  of  the  artist.     They  cannot  even  be 


Notes  on  Various  JVorks  of  Art 

accounted  for  as  marking  the  limits  of  a  day's  work< 
for  they  are  far  too  frequent  and  irregular,  and 
although  we  are  told  that  Michelangelo  was  par- 
ticularly careful  in  effacing  the  divisions  between 
the  plastering,  these  may  be  clearly  seen  even  in  a 
photograph  (for  instance  above  the  head  and  arm 
of  Esaias,  or  of  the  Erythraean  Sibyl). 

But  to  determine  the  motive  for  this  extraordi- 
nary freak  of  genius  is  by  no  means  as  easy  as  Sir 
Hubert  von  Herkomer  appears  to  suppose.  The 
two  biographers  of  Michelangelo  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  aware  of  the  trick,  but  they  tell  us 
enough  to  show  that  the  capricious  and  un- 
scrupulous element  in  the  mediaeval  Italian 
temperament  was  well  developed  in  him.  From 
Vasari  we  learn,  for  example,  that  as  a  boy  he 
was  in  the  habit,  like  Chatterton  with  his  manu- 
scripts, of  forging  engravings  of  the  Old  Masters  in 
order  to  substitute  them  for  the  originals.  Both 
Vasari  and  Condivi,  it  is  true,  record  his  dis- 
couragement and  his  complaint  to  the  Pope,  '  I 
forewarned  your  Holiness  that  painting  was  not 
my  art ;  all  I  have  done  is  lost,  and  if  you  do  not 
believe  me,  order  someone  to  come  and  see  it.' 
But  this  was  called  forth  by  a  mould  which 
appeared  on  the  paintings,  and  which  was  caused 
by  the  dampness  of  the  plaster,  and  Sangallo, 
sent  by  Julius  to  investigate  the  cause,  was  able 
to  suggest  a  means  of  removing  the  spots. 

Not  only  is  there  no  mention  in  Vasari  of  the 
cracks,  but  it  seems  incredible  that,  if  they  were 
painted  by  Michelangelo  with  the  sole  object  of 
showing  his  supposed  ignorance  of  his  materials, 
he  should  have  continued  to  paint  imaginary 
cracks  even  on  the  last  completed  portion  of  the 
work.  The  artificial  cracks,  it  will  be  observed, 
are  quite  as  numerous  at  the  eastern  end  of  the 
ceiling,  which  was  not  completed  until  three  or 
four  years  later,  as  on  the  western  half,  which  was 
begun  in  1508  and  unveiled  in  1509.  The  painter 
can  hardly  have  cherished  for  five  years  the  hope 
of  getting  rid  of  work  which  may  have  been  at 
first  uncongenial  by  means  of  so  paltry  an  artifice. 
On  the  contrary,  we  learn  from  Vasari  that  the 
circumstances  of  his  appointment  to  the  work  on 
the  instigation  of  Bramante  and  his  rivals,  who 
wished  to  discredit  him  as  a  painter  if  not  as  a 
sculptor,  '  became  a  stimulus  to  his  exertions.'  As 
we  should  expect,  the  ambitious  Buonarroti  is  on 
his  mettle,  and  it  is  only  when  the  technical 
difficulties  of  plaster-work  seem  to  him  insuper- 
able that  he  makes  any  effort  to  be  relieved. 

It  is  a  thankless  task  to  speculate  upon  the  motives 
of  genius,  but  it  seems  that  the  data  for  Professor 
von  Herkomer's  theory  are  insufficient,  and 
there  remains  no  discoverable  cause  for  the  trick 
but  mere  caprice.  And  some  ground  is  afforded 
for  this  view  by  the  fact  that  we  find  in  the  frescoes, 
even  of  Roman  times,  places  where  the  plaster  has 
apparently  fallen,  and  the   bricks  show  through, 


2QI 


Notes  on  Various  IVorks  of  Art 

and  where  it  is  almost  necessary  to  touch  the 
wall  before  we  find  the  illusion  is  produced  by 
paint  on  a  perfectly  smooth  plaster  surface. 

A.  H.  Maude. 

A  STATUE  BY  GIOVANNI  DELL'  OPERA 
Important  examples  of  Florentine  Renaissance 
sculpture  so  rarely  arrive  in  England  that  the 
statue  by  Giovanni  Bandini  now  on  view  at  Mr. 
Lennie  Davis's  gallery  in  Albemarle  Street  calls  for 
some  notice.  Giovanni  di  Benedetto  da  Castello, 
as  Vasari  terms  him  in  addition  to  his  better- 
known  title  of  Giovanni  dell'  Opera,  the  pupil  and 
assistant  of  Baccio  Bandinelli,  is  recorded  to 
have  designed  in  1564  the  figure  of  the  Tiber 
for  the  funeral  catafalque  of  Michelangelo,  and 
to  have  carved  a  figure  (that  of  Architecture) 
which  still  decorates  the  master's  tomb  in  Santa 
Croce.  He  is  thus  for  us  hardly  more  than  the 
shadow  of  two  more  famous  names,  but  the 
example  of  his  art  which  has  recently  been 
brought  to  London  shows  that  he  was  less 
uninteresting  than  his  record. 

The  statue  is  a  life-size  figure  of  a  young  hunter, 
and  is  signed  and  dated  'Johes  Bandinus  Floretinus 
F.  1598.'  Even  in  Michelangelo's  lifetime  the 
course  of  Florentine  sculpture  had  been  one  of 
rapid  decline,  and  by  the  year  1598  the  severer 
taste  of  the  earlier  masters  had  been  quite  over- 
whelmed by  the  elegant  extravagance  of  the 
barocco  style.  Here  and  there,  it  is  true,  we  see 
occasional  traces  of  a  reaction,  but  they  are  for 
the  most  part  weak  and  momentary.    In  this  work 


by  Giovanni  Bandini,  however,  we  have,  perhaps, 
the  most  remarkable  of  them  all.  The  statue  may 
not  appear,  at  first  sight,  to  be  attractive,  for  the 
head  with  its  heavy  crown  of  hair  unquestionably 
dominates  overmuch  the  slender,  youthful  figure. 
When  the  work  is  more  closely  examined,  this 
apparent  disproportion  becomes  a  source  of 
interest,  for  we  begin  to  realize  that  it  is  the  result, 
not  of  weakness,  but  of  a  striving  after  portrait- 
like truth,  of  a  revolt  against  the  conventional 
perfections  of  an  uninventive  age. 

Giovanni  dell'  Opera,  in  short,  has  here  thrown 
aside  all  contemporary  models  and  contemporary 
ideals,  and  reverted  to  the  early  manner  of  the 
great  master  with  whom  his  name  is  associated  by 
Vasari.  It  is  of  the  earlier  style  of  Michelangelo 
that  in  the  end  we  are  compelled  to  think  in 
connexion  with  this  statue.  The  strong,  beard- 
less face,  its  severe  brow  accentuated  by  the 
overhanging  hair,  is  a  definite  echo  of  the 
vengeful  David  and  of  such  works  as  the  un- 
loving Cupid  at  South  Kensington.  The  same 
influence  may  be  traced  in  the  modelling  of 
the  trunk,  though  here  we  have  not  that  infinite 
delicacy,  extending  frequently  to  unpleasant 
finish  of  surface,  that  we  find  in  Michelangelo, 
any  more  than  the  comparative  slenderness  of  the 
right  leg  suggests  his  more  stout  and  strenuous 
anatomies.  The  statue  is  thus  a  thing  of  singular 
and  complex  interest,  and  proves  its  maker  to 
have  been  a  far  more  interesting  character  than 
the  few  known  works  from  his  hand  or  the  record 
of  his  contemporaries  would  suggest.      C.  ].  H. 


^  LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR  rx. 


THE  GREEK  STATUE  FROM  TRENTHAM 
To  the  Editor  of  The  Burlington  M..\gazine. 
Sir, — In  the  June  number  of  this  magazine, 
page  156,  Dr.  Anton  Hekler  publishes  some  views 
of  his  own  on  the  above  statue,  of  which  he  had 
previously  given  me  notice.  In  his  opinion,  the 
statue  and  the  inscription  are  contemporary— that 
is  to  say,  he  assigns  the  statue  to  the  first  century 
B.C.  Dr.  Hekler  has  not  seen  the  original,  and 
bases  his  opinion  on  the  illustrations  of  it  which 
accompanied  my  article.  It  is  always  rash  to 
assert  dogmatic  views  as  if  they  were  arguments, 
and  still  more  so  to  base  them  on  so  slight  an 
acquaintance  with  the  subject  in  dispute.  It  is 
true  that  photographs  of  sculpture  are  sometimes 
misleading  ;  but  even  assuming  (which  I  do  not 
admit)  that  the  illustrations  were  inadequate,  I 
find  it  difficult  to  understand  the  surprising 
criticisms  on  which  Dr.  Hekler  has  founded  his 
opinion.  He  speaks  of  'the  somewhat  rough 
execution  of  the  figure,'  and  remarks  that  '  the 
command  of  form,  the  lively,  curious  feeling  for 
art,  have  died  out  in  riotous  masses.'  How  these 
strictures  can  apply  to  the  Trentham  figure  I  am 


at  a  loss  to  understand  :  it  is  for  readers  of  THE 
Burlington  Magazine  to  judge  whether  such 
criticism  is  justified  by  the  illustrations.  Per- 
sonally, I  should  have  thought  that  it  w.as  the 
absolute  contrary  of  that  which  any  experienced 
critic  would  have  inferred  as  to  the  style  of  the 
sculpture  from  the  material  there  given. 

It  is  true  that  in  course  of  time  the  surface  of 
the  marble  has  considerably  suffered,  and  the 
effect  is  to  give  a  first  impression  of  uncertainty  in 
the  workmanship,  particularly  as  regards  the  lower 
folds  of  the  chiton.  In  the  illustrations  this 
damage  is  not,  of  course,  obvious,  but  any  one 
who  looks  at  the  original  can  see  that  the  treat- 
ment of  these  folds,  when  they  left  the  sculptor's 
hands,  must  have  reflected  a  remarkable  simplicity 
and  dignity  of  design. 

Dr.  Hekler  further  mentions  two  replicas  of  the 
type  which  he  says  had  escaped  me.  They  had 
not  escaped  me  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  can,  if 
Dr.  Hekler  wishes,  refer  him  to  at  least  twenty 
examples  in  which  the  same  type  has  been  em- 
ployed, both  in  ancient  and  mediaeval  art.  The 
later  popularity  of  the  type  is  a  fact  so  well  known 


202 


Letters  to  the  Editor 


that  I  did  not  think  there  was  any  necessity  to 
insist  upon  it  here.  If  Dr.  Hekler  would  Hke  to 
inform  himself  further  on  this  point,  I  would 
recommend  him  to  consult  an  article  by  Professor 
Strzygowski  in  the  '  journal  of  Hellenic  Studies,' 
1907,  p.  III.  Professor  Strzygowski  rightly  com- 
pares the  Muse  from  the  Mantinean  basis  as  one 
of  the  earlier  representations  of  the  type,  and  the 
so-called  Matron  of  Hcrculancnui  as  a  faithful 
Roman  copy. 

A  comparison  of  our  statue  with  the  Hercu- 
laneum  figure  is,  in  my  opinion,  of  itself  sufficient 
to  show  the  utter  impossibility  of  Dr.  Heklcr's 
view. 

Since  I  wrote  on  this  subject  Professor  Ernest 
Gardner's  article  in  the  '  Journal  of  Hellenic 
Studies '  has  appeared,  giving  his  view  that  the 
statue  is  even  earlier  than  the  date  I  had  assigned 
to  it.  He  refers  to  a  suggestion  of  mine,  which  I 
had  omitted  to  give  in  my  former  article,  in 
explanation  of  the  curious  inferiority  of  style  in 
the  workmanship  of  the  head. 

Although  the  main  lines  and  the  type  bespeak  a 
work  of  the  fourth  century,  there  is  in  this  respect 
a  curious  inferiority  of  execution.  I  have  surmised 
that  the  original  head  may  have  been  damaged 
before  the  statue  was  converted  to  its  Roman  use, 
and  may  have  been  replaced  by  a  copy  in  Parian 
marble  made  by  the  Roman  restorer.  If  the 
restorer  had  the  original  head  before  him,  even  in 
a  defective  condition,  we  can  understand  why  this 
copy  reproduces  the  general  effect  of  a  fine 
original,  while  exhibiting  a  feebleness  in  execution, 
especially  in  the  treatment  of  the  neck,  which 
strikes  almost  every  one  who  sees  it. 

I  think  it  is  a  pity  that  Dr.  Hekler  did  not  either 
express  his  views  with  less  assurance,  or  trouble 
to  procure  a  good  photograph,  since  neither  the 
original  nor  a  cast  was  accessible  to  liim. 

Cecil  H.  Smith. 

PORTRAITS  IN  THE  KANN  COLLECTION 

To  the  Editor  of  The  Burlington  Magazlve. 

Dear  Sir, — In  perusing  Professor  Holmes's  in- 
teresting article  on  the  '  Recent  acquisitions  by 
Mrs.  C.  P.  Huntington  from  the  (Paris)  Kann 
collection '  published  in  your  number  of  last 
January,  it  struck  me  some  time  ago  that  the  first 
reproduction  of  the  two  portraits  by  Frans  Hals 
which  have  travelled  to  America  is  simply  indi- 
cated as  that  of  A  IVoiiian  and  the  second  as 
representing  Koeyinans-Zooii  of  Alblasscrdani. 

I  do  not  know  the  origin  of  this  specific 
definition,  but  suppose  that  the  picture  has  been 
known  as  such  all  along,  or  perhaps  bears  the 
name  on  the  back. 

There  is  no  reason,  however,  to  doubt  its 
accuracy  ;  the  young  gentleman  with  the  delicate 
or  weary  looks  having  existed  in  the  year  when 
portrayed  by  our  great  Haarlem  artist  (1645)  in 


the  rather  striking  realistic  style  which  charac- 
terizes Hals's  masterpieces  of  his  mature  activity. 
The  age  of  the  sitter  was  twenty  years  then,  as  is 
mentioned  on  the  panel. 

His  coat  of  arms,  equally  displayed  (hitherto 
unknowi*.  to  me),  gives  further  evidence  of  the 
exactness ;  it  is  a  true  specimen  of  so-called 
canting  arms  (French  :  arincs  parlantcs)  frequently 
adopted  in  those  times  by  families  coming  to 
wealth  in  Holland,  but  also  elsewhere. 

In  fact  it  is  in  full  accordance  with  the  name 
Koeymans,  Kocy  or  Koci,  nowadays  written  and 
pronounced  Koc,  being  the  equivalent  of  the 
English  substantive  '  cow.' 

Let  me  now  pass  on  to  the  other  likeness  and, 
with  the  aid  of  heraldry,  venture  to  demonstrate 
the  very  close  alliance  existing  between  both  the 
persons  depicted  by  Hals  in  two  successive  years.' 

The  lady's  arms  painted  in  an  oval  shield  (which 
denotes  that  she  is  a  married  woman  or  widow 
and  that  they  do  not  represent  her  husband's  but 
her  own  in  her  maiden  state)  are  unmistakably 
those  of  the  family  of  5c'r^— also  written  Bcrck — 
long  since  extinct  in  this  country,  but  prospering 
and  renowned  in  the  seventeenth  century,  especially 
in  the  city  of  Dordrecht,  though  originating  from 
Westphalia. 

The  description  is  as  follows : — Or,  a  five- 
petalled  leaf  vert. 

Amateurs  of  heraldry  can  find  proofs  of  this 
assertion  by  visiting  the  Dordrecht  cathedral  or 
the  Marienkirche  at  Liibeck.  The  latter  contains  a 
remarkable  richly-engraved  tomb-stone,  with  the 
figures  of  Tydeman  Berck,  Burgomaster  of 
Liibeck,  t  152 1,  and  his  spouse,  Elisabeth  Wulres, 
as  well  as  their  arms  ;  the  husband's  being  almost 
identical  with  those  borne  by  the  Dutch  brancli.- 

But  to  return  to  our  subject. 

In  consulting  my  copy  of  Matthys  Balen's 
'  Beschrijving  van  Dordrecht '  a  reliable  old  book 
printed  in  1677  and  containing  the  description  of 
this  town  during  the  period  of  its  greatest  glory, 
together  with  the  history  of  the  principal  and 
illustrious  citizens,  I  found  a  genealogical  review 
concerning  the  Berk  family  and  the  following 
particulars  : — 

Jolian  Berk,  born  in  1565,  was  knighted  and 
filled  several  high  public  oflices,  e.g.  ambassa- 
dor of  the  States  of  Holland  at  the  courts  of 
England  and  Denmark  (1607,  1610  and  1618), 
later  on  in  the  Venetian  Republic  (1622);  he 
married  twice,  1°.  Erkenraad  van  Berkenroede, 
the  widow  of  Dirk  Berk  Henriksz. 

They  had  four  children,  of  which  the  second, 
Dorotltea,  married  Josep  Koeymans  ran  Alblasser- 
dam.      This   couple   had   tJiree   sons   and   three 

'  Professor  Holmes  stales  lliat  llic  fem.ile  portrait  is  dated 
1644. 

-There  is  a  slitjlit  modification,  vi:.,  a  small  hi'f.:iiooi  above 
the  live-fold  leaf. 


Letters  to  the  Editor 

daughters  named  Balthasar,Wilhelmina,  Erkenraad, 
Josep,  Isabella  and  Johan,  of  which  the  first  became 
Ambachtsheer  of  Streefkerk  and  Nieuwlekkerland 
and  married  ;  josep,  Ambachtsheer  of  Brencum 
and  Nyenael,  also  married  ;  and  the  last,  Johan, 
died  at  an  early  age. 

I  regret  that  I  cannot  procure  more  exact  dates, 
my  sources  not  being  as  extensive  as  I  should  wish, 
but  I  think,  nevertheless,  that  we  may  safely  con- 
clude from  the  foregoing,  that  the  Woman  F^rans 
Hals  portrayed  in  1644  was  the  second  child  of 
Johan  Berk's  first  marriage  and  most  probably  the 
mother  of  Koeymanszoon  van  Alblasserdam,  viz., 
Johan  Koeymans,  deceased  unmarried  at  an  early 
age. 


If  so,  she  may  have  been  about  fifty  when  her 
portrait  was  painted,  which  agrees  entirely  with 
her  looks  and  attire. 

Thinking  that  my  conjecture  will  perhaps  be  of 
some  importance  to  the  present  owner  of  Frans 
Hals's  pair  of  precious  portraits,  and,  maybe,  also 
to  some  of  your  readers,  I  thought  it  proper  to 
submit  these  lines  to  your  attention. 

If  necessary,  it  would  give  little  trouble  to  further 
the  in\-estigations  on  this  subject,  by  applying  to 
the  city  archives  of  Dordrecht. 

I  remain,  dear  Sir, 
Yours   faithfully, 

John  C.  van  Lennep. 

Amsterdam,  July,  1908. 


^  ART  BOOKS  OF  THE  MONTH  d^ 


ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 

Jewellery.  By  H.  Clifford  Smith,  M.A.  The 
Connoisseur's  Library.  Methuen  and  Co. 
25s.  net. 

Mr.  Smith's  book  is  the  first  attempt  which  has 
been  made  in  English  to  deal  comprehensively  with 
its  subject ;  but  it  aims  at  covering  too  much  ground 
in  too  small  a  space.  An  introduction  containing 
amongst  other  things  a  very  inadequate  account 
of  the  development  of  the  fibula — information 
which  is  available  in  a  form  at  once  more  con- 
densed and  more  accurate  in  most  modern  dic- 
tionaries of  antiquities,  not  to  speak  of  the 
admirable  British  Museum  Handbook  of  Iron-age 
Antiquities — leads  to  the  section  on  Egyptian, 
Phoenician,  Greek,  Etruscan  and  Roman  jewellery, 
which  occupies  in  all  only  thirty-two  pages.  Forty 
such  are  given  to  the  prehistoric,  Celtic  and 
Saxon  periods ;  it  is  almost  unnecessary  to  add 
that  the  treatment  is  perfunctory  in  the  extreme. 
The  account  of  Egyptian  jewellery  makes 
no  attempt  to  deal  with  the  more  recent  dis- 
coveries ;  such  uniquely  important  objects  as 
the  bracelets  discovered  by  Professor  Petrie  in  the 
tomb  of  King  Zer  at  Abydos  are  not  as  much  as 
alluded  to  ;  the  three  pages  on  Phoenician 
jewellery  are  almost  comic  in  the  comprehensive- 
ness with  which  a  dozen  burning  archaeological 
questions  are  swept  aside  in  a  few  words.  Scarcely 
less  grotesque  is  the  passage  devoted  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  cloisonnt^  enamelling  into  the  West:  a  whole 
literature  may  be  said  to  have  collected  round  this 
point,  although  it  has  only  supplied  Mr.  Smith 
with  one  reference  in  a  footnote,  and  that,  it  will 
scarcely  be  believed,  is  to  no  more  recondite  a 
work  than  J.  R.  Green's  '  Short  History  of  the 
English  People.'  The  absence  of  references  to 
the  original  sources  of  information  is,  as  is 
commonly  the  case  in  books  of  this  class,  a  very 
grave  defect.  A  good  handbook  should  be  a  key 
to   the  literature   of    its  subject ;    the  so-called 


'Bibliography'  usually  supplied,  a  rough  list  of 
books  which  may  or  may  not  have  been  consulted 
by  the  author,  is  no  compensation  for  the  absence 
of  numerous  footnotes. 

With  the  jewellery  of  the  later  mediaeval  and 
Renaissance  periods  we  approach  that  portion  of 
Mr.  Smith's  task  which  has  evidently  been  most 
congenial  to  him.  The  accounts  of  the  jewels  are 
grouped  in  classes  according  to  the  countries  of 
their  origin  and  the  purposes  for  which  they  were 
used.  The  author  here  shows  wide  reading  and  a 
very  complete  first-hand  acquaintance — such  as  is 
now  happily  becoming  common  amongst  English 
museum  curators — with  the  contents  of  continen- 
tal collections. 

Much  curious  and  out-of-the-way  information 
such  as  might  have  furnished  several  valuable 
magazine  articles,  or  even,  with  some  added 
research,  aspired  to  a  place  in  the  pages  of '  Arch- 
aeologia,'  is  contained  in  the  sections  dealing  with 
the  English  jewels  of  the  Elizabethan  period,  with 
the  connexion  between  the  engraved  pattern-books 
of  certain  German  and  French  goldsmiths  and 
contemporary  jewels,  and  with  the  identification  of 
jewellery  in  portraits  and  inventories.  Unfortun- 
ately the  necessity  of  squeezing  the  material  into 
a  mould  whose  form  had  been  fixed  by  irrelevant 
external  conditions  has  prevented  the  author  from 
making  the  best  of  all  the  information  he  has 
amassed.  None  the  less,  the  care  with  which  he 
has  collected  particularsand  illustrations  of  the  prin- 
cipal Elizabethan  jewels,  including  the  magnificent 
series  (hitherto  practically  unknown)  which  has 
descended  from  Lord  Hunsdon,  Queen  Elizabeth's 
cousin,  to  Lord  Fitzhardinge,  and  the  unpublished 
jewel  in  the  Poldi-Pezzoli  Museum,  is  worthy  of 
praise.  In  the  matter  of  jewellers'  design-books 
he  has  pointed  the  way  to  a  highly  interesting 
field  of  inquiry  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  he 
may  himself  explore  further ;  while  the  serious 
study  of  the  jewellery  depicted  in  portraits  in 
connexion  with  old  inventories,  on  the  lines  of 


294 


Arts  and  Crafts 


Mr.  Andrew  Lang's  well-known  essay  on  the 
portraits  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  must  certainly 
lead  to  discoveries  of  the  greatest  interest  to  his- 
torians. 

These  are  all  subjects  worth  working  out  in  detail 
for  their  own  sakes,  and  particularly  to  be  recom- 
mended to  a  writer  whose  incursions  into  the 
wider  fields  of  art-history  and  criticism  are  far 
from  successful.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine 
anything  more  banal  and  completely  lacking  in 
perception  of  the  real  bearings  of  history  than  the 
general  introduction  to  the  Renaissance  section, 
while  a  paragraph  in  another  place  (p.  182)  on  the 
connexion,  or  lack  of  connexion,  between  the 
jewellery-design  of  the  Graeco-Roman  and  Renais- 
sance periods  is  even  more  conspicuous  for  the 
inability  to  grasp  the  nature  of  the  situation  which 
it  displays. 

Like  the  rest  of  the  series  to  which  it  belongs, 
the  volume  is  very  handsomely  printed  and  bound 
and  profusely  illustrated  ;  but  it  is  a  pity  that 
the  illustrations,  evidently  representing  immense 
trouble  and  considerable  expense  in  their  selection, 
can  only  be  described  as  mediocre  in  execution. 

Stained  Glass  Tours  in  France.     By  Charles 

Hitchcock  Sherrill.  John  Lane.  6s.  net. 
This  is  a  very  modest  book.  Its  author  makes  no 
pretension  to  have  anything  new  to  say.  He 
merely  takes  the  common  information  of  French 
guidebooks  so  far  as  concerns  stained  glass,  and 
rearranges  it  in  a  form  which  he  who  automobiles 
may  read.  I  suppose  that  this  accounts  for  the 
peculiarly  irritating  style  in  which  the  book  is 
written,  the  style  which  is  supposed  to  be  popular. 
And  popularity  appears  to  consist  in  an  elaborate 
and  fatuous  affectation  of  ignorance.  This  may 
be  sometimes  convenient  to  the  writer  who  can 
conceal  real  ignorance  by  an  affectation  of  his 
failing,  but  Mr.  Sherrill  has  no  such  excuse.  His 
knowledge  is  evidently  adequate ;  he  has  really 
looked,  and  looked  lovingly,  at  the  windows  he  de- 
scribes ;  and  he  might  have  given  us  his  information 
in  a  straightforward  and  scholarly  manner  and  in 
a  very  much  briefer  space.  He  divides  the  stained 
glass  of  France  into  three  groups — twelfth  and 
thirteenth  century  glass  forming  the  first  group, 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  the  second,  and  six- 
tenth  century  the  third.  Then  he  arranges  a  separate 
tour  for  each  group,  designed  to  include  the  most 
notable  specimens  of  the  glass  of  that  period. 

The  division  is  conveniently  logical  for  purposes 
of  exposition,  whatever  its  defects  as  a  practical 
guide  for  the  tourist. 

In  his  general  appreciation  of  stained  glass  Mr. 
Sherrill  subscribes  somewhat  perfunctorily  to  the 
general  opinion  of  the  superiority  of  the  thirteenth- 
century  work,  but  when  he  comes  to  talk  of  the 
glass  of  the  sixteenth  century  he  seems  to  be  too 


much  dazzled  by  its  variety  of  colour  and  the 
ingenuity  of  its  sham  pictorial  effects.  But  one 
would  forgive  him  some  lapses  of  the  critical  spirit 
in  view  of  his  enthusiasm  for  the  rare  and  little- 
noticed  specimens  of  the  twelfth  century,  especially 
the  superb  window  at  le  Mans  which  he  duly 
commemorates.  By  the  bye,  since  there  is  so 
little  left  of  this  period,  he  might  have  mentioned 
the  grand  example  at  Vendome,  a  place  easily  to 
be  included  in  the  prescribed  tour. 

At  Evreux  he  notices  in  some  detail  the  great 
fourteenth-century  glazings,  but  I  wish  for  the  sake 
of  information  that  he  had  given  us  further  particu- 
lars of  one  window  in  the  clerestory  of  the  nave  on 
the  north  side,  which  is  not  only  much  the  finest 
example  of  fourteenth-century  glass  that  I  have 
seen,  but  shows  such  curious  analogies  with  the 
miniature  painting  of  the  Limbourgs  that  its 
history  would  be  worth  unravelling. 

In  speaking  of  thirteenth-century  glass  the 
author  appears  to  think  that  the  optical  mixture  of 
blue  and  red  pieces  of  glass  to  form  a  deep  purple 
is  the  characteristic  beauty  of  the  style,  and  that 
the  windows  were  meant  to  be  seen  at  such  a 
distance  that  this  optical  commingling  takes 
place. 

This  is  doubtful :  first,  because  the  design  of  such 
windows  is  generally  small  in  scale,  so  that  the 
artist  apparently  intended  the  spectator  to  stand 
near;  and  secondly,  because  in  the  finest  windows 
the  artist  took  the  precaution  of  mixing  such 
quantities  of  white  and  pale  yellow  as  to  prevent 
this  resultant  purple,  which  is  sometimes  un- 
pleasantly hot  in  effect. 

In  speaking  of  the  stained  glass  at  Sens,  Mr. 
Sherrill  has  omitted  to  notice  a  curiosity  which  is 
deserving  of  investigation,  but  which  I  have  never 
seen  referred  to.  In  a  small  chapel  on  the  left- 
hand  bank  of  the  river  are  some  pieces  of  late 
fifteenth  or  early  sixteenth-century  glass,  in  which 
are  the  portraits  of  the  Medici  taken  from  Benozzo 
Gozzoli's  frescoes  in  the  Riccardi  Palace. 

As  the  author  quotes  without  comment  Matthew 
Arnold's  verses  on  the  Chapel  of  St.  Hubert  at 
Bourg  in  which  the  effigies  of  Duke  Philibert  and 
his  wife  are  invited  to  wake  when  the  setting  sun 
causes  a  'chequer  work  of  glowing  sapphire  tints' 
on  the  marble  pavement,  1  suppose  he  has  not 
investigated  the  curious  and  I  believe  unexplained 
phenomenon  that  sunlight  passing  through  old 
glass  does  not  produce  coloured  light  on  the 
marble  floor.  Whenever  one  detects  these  patches 
of  colour  so  dear  to  poets,  one  can  find  that  they 
have  their  source  in  a  modern  window  or  in  the 
restored  parts  of  an  old  one.  Such,  at  least,  has 
been  my  experience  in  a  large  number  of  cases. 
I  propound  the  question  to  Mr.  Sherrill,  as  an 
ardent  lover  of  stained  glass,  in  the  hope  that  he 
may  throw  light  upon  it. 

R.  E.  F. 

295 


Miscellaneous  "Books 


MISCELLANEOUS 

The  Legend  of  the  Holy  Fina,  Virgin  of 
Santo  Gimignano.  Now  first  translated 
from  the  trecento  Italian  of  Fra  Giovanni  di 
Coppo,  with  introduction  and  notes,  by  M. 
Mansfield.  Chatto  and  Windus.  The  New 
Mediaeval  Library.  5s.  net. 
Saint  Fina  is  now  the  greatest  glory  of  San 
Gimignano,  the  little  town  which  the  rush  of 
modern  industrialism  has  passed  by,  but  which 
nevertheless  claims  an  ancient  history,  wherein 
the  Romans,  the  Lombards,  Charlemagne  and  the 
strife  between  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  play  a  part. 
It  was  during  this  last  struggle,  in  1238,  that  Fina 
de'  Ciardi  was  born,  the  girl  who,  in  the  fifteen 
years  of  her  short  and  secluded  life,  brought  more 
fame  to  her  native  place  than  even  its  name-saint, 
the  bishop  of  Modena  whose  miraculous  appear- 
ance put  Attila's  hosts  to  flight  and  blinded  their 
leader.  Five  years  out  of  those  fifteen  Saint  Fina 
spent  stretched  in  sickness  on  the  famous  board 
which  is  now  shown  in  the  chapel  attached  to  the 
hospital  built  in  honour  of  the  aid  rendered  by 
her  power  in  succeeding  outbreaks  of  pestilence. 
There  are  few  more  charming  stories  in  the  annals 
of  mediaeval  sainthood  than  that  of  Fina  ;  and  if 
she  had  no  other  claim  on  our  remembrance, 
Ghirlandajo's  frescoes  illustrating  scenes  in  her  life 
on  the  walls  of  her  chapel  in  the  Collegiate  Church, 
and  her  altar  tomb  by  Benedetto  da  Maiano  in 
the  same  building,  would  alone  be  sufficient  to 
claim  our  interest  in  the  character  that  inspired 
them.  The  translator  of  the  early  trecento 
leggenda  from  the  manuscript  in  the  National 
Library,  Florence,  has  done  her  work  admirably, 
and  has  contributed  an  enthusiastic  and  well- 
informed  introduction.  The  book  is  got  up  with 
all  the  care  and  taste  we  have  come  to  expect  of 
this  delightful  series  ;  and  the  five  illustrations  in 
photogravure  after  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  Lippo 
Memmi,  Ghirlandajo  and  Benedetto  da  Maiano, 
the  artist  of  the  tomb,  are  excellent.  The  Italian 
text  is  given,  and  there  are  copious  notes. 

The  Babee's  Book.  Mediaeval  Manners  for  the 
Young.  Now  first  done  into  modern  English 
from  the  texts  of  F.  J.  Furnivall.  London: 
Chatto  and  Windus.  The  New  Mediaeval 
Library.     5s.  net. 

As  its  title  suggests,  this  is  an  entertaining  volume. 
It  includes  no  less  than  fourteen  mediaeval  codes 
of  good  behaviour  in  prose  and  verse,  covering  all 
phases  of  domestic  etiquette  from  the  simplest 
elements  of  good  table  manners  for  children  to 
such  delicate  questions  of  precedence  as  the  treat- 
ment of  the  parents  of  a  pope  or  cardinal  in  the 
presence  of  their  illustrious  offspring.  Even  those 
who  are  not  mediaevalists  will  thus  find  plenty  to 
amuse  them  in  this  addition  to  Messrs.  Chatto's 

296 


'New  Mediaeval  Library.'  The  book  is  appro- 
priately adorned  with  little  photogravure  plates 
from  old  manuscripts,  and  is  furnished  with  brief 
notes  and  an  excellent  introduction. 

St.  George  for  Merrie  England.  By 
Margaret  H.  Bulley.  With  fifty-six  full-page 
illustrations.  London  :  George  Allen.  1908. 
5s.  net. 
The  title  of  this  work  suggests  a  valuable  field  of 
research  to  the  student  of  mediaeval  art  histoiy. 
But  he  is  destined  to  be  disappointed.  The  book 
contains  no  information  that  is  new — and  what  is 
given  is  incomplete,  and  occasi'onally  inaccurate. 
It  is  divided  into  sections,  of  which  the  first  two 
deal  with  the  legend  of  the  saint  as  given  by  the 
Golden  Legend  and  works  used  in  its  compila- 
tion ;  the  third  tells  us  what  is  actually  known  of 
the  saint's  history  ;  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  we  have 
the  history  of  George  the  Arian,  and  numerous 
quotations  from  authors  who  confused  this  '  false 
St.  George'  with  the  famous  warrior  saint.  The 
sixth  section  deals  with  the  cult  of  St.  George 
in  England,  and  the  seventh  contains  various 
references  to  him  in  English  literature.  There  is 
also  an  appendix  giving  the  service  for  St.  George's 
Day  as  used  in  England  before  the  Reformation, 
and  a  short  note  on  St.  George  in  art. 

In  the  first  section  we  are  sorry  to  notice  such 
an  error  as  'Jaques  de  Voragine,  Archbishop  of 
Geneva.'  This  should,  of  course,  be  Genoa,  and 
his  Christian  name  would  consequently  be  Jacopo. 
Also,  the  Golden  Legend  tells  us  that,  after  slaying 
the  dragon,  St.  George  baptized  fifteen  thousand 
men  '  without  wymmen  and  chyldren,'  not  twenty 
thousand,  as  the  author  says.  Sections  four, 
five  and  seven  might  well  have  been  dispensed 
with,  or  at  any  rate  considerably  shortened.  The 
section  devoted  to  '  The  Cult  in  England '  is  dis- 
appointing, and  shows  no  original  research — a 
remark  which  applies  equally  to  the  note  on  St. 
George  in  art.  The  chief  value  of  the  book  is  in 
the  quality  of  the  illustrations,  but  they  are 
badly  chosen,  and  do  not  sufficiently  show  the 
universal  popularity  of  St.  George  in  the  middle 
ages.  The  modern  English  examples  might  well 
have  been  replaced  by  mediaeval  ones. 

R.  P.  B. 

Our  Lady  in  Art.  By  Mrs.  Henry  Jenner. 
With  forty-one  illustrations.  London  : 
Methuen.  1908.     2s.  6d.  net. 

This  is  an  excellent  litde  book,  though  the  title 
might  more  properly  have  been  'Our  Lady  in 
Italian  Art.'  The  subject  is  treated  in  much  the 
same  way  as  it  was  by  Mrs.  Jameson  some  fifty 
years  ago,  and  we  see  the  influence  of  that  writer 
throughout  the  work.  We  have  first  a  short 
introductory  summary  of  the  cult  of  Our  Lady. 
Then  the  work  is  divided  into  two  parts.     Part   1 


Miscellaneous  "Books 


is  devoted  to  the  theological  and  devotional 
aspects  of  the  subject,  and  describes  the  different 
methods  used  to  represent  the  Virgin  and  the 
Virgin  and  Child,  alone,  and  also  surrounded  by 
saints.  Part  II  is  historical  and  biographical,  and 
gives  an  interesting  sketch — for  in  such  a  small 
compass  it  is  impossible  to  give  more  than  a 
sketch — of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  as  illustrated  by 
the  greatest  painters. 

The  author  shows  great  descriptive  powers,  but 
too  much  prominence  has  been  given  to  Italian 
painting,  the  result  being  that  the  study  is  not 
sufficiently  representative.  There  is  also  a  want 
of  system  in  the  treatment  of  the  subject  matter, 
and  one  gets  but  a  confused  idea  of  the  growth  of 
the  various  representations  of  the  Virgin  in  art. 
Had  the  dates  of  the  painters  been  given,  this 
difficulty  would  have  been  more  or  less  obviated. 

R.  P.  B. 

A  Brief  Account  of  the  University  Press  at 
Oxford,  with  illustrations,  together  with  a 
chart  of  Oxford  printing.  By  Falconer 
Madan,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Brasenose  College. 
Oxford  :  Printed  at  the  Clarendon  Press. 
2s.  6d. 
Mr.  Falconer  Madan's  valuable  little  book 
conveys  a  deal  of  learning  in  a  very  agreeable  man- 
ner. It  is,  of  course,  to  some  extent  an  advertise- 
ment :  we  only  wish  that  all  advertisements  were 
of  this  quality.  It  is  also  to  some  extent  a  graceful 
tribute  to  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 
union  of  the  Bible  and  the  Learned  Presses 
under  Mr.  Horace  Hart.  But  such  a  book  needs 
no  excuse  ;  it  is  well  able  to  stand  on  its  own 
merits  as  not  only  a  short  account  of  a  famous 
printing  house  by  the  man  best  qualified  to  write 
it,  but  a  bibliographical  essay  full  of  interesting 
facts.  In  the  first  of  his  three  sections  Mr.  Madan 
sketches  the  history  of  the  Press  in  six  periods, 
from  the  much  debated  '  1468 '  '  Exposicio  Sancti 
leronimi '  (which  is  briefly  and  clearly  discussed) 
to  the  latest  thing  in  Bibles  and  the  '  New  English 
Dictionary,'  paying  due  honour  to  the  Press's 
great  champions,  Laud,  Fell  and  Bartholomew 
Price.  The  second  section  deals  with  '  Incidents 
and  Curiosities,'  which  include  the  Almanacks,  the 
Keepsakes,  and  the  Caxton  Memorial  Bible  of 
1877,  of  which  a  hundred  copies  were  set  up, 
machined  and  bound  in  twenty-four  hours.  Part 
III  consists  of  Mr.  Madan's  extraordinarily 
interesting  chart  of  Oxford  printing,  showing  the 
annual  and  average  output  of  the  Press  during  its 
whole  history,  in  which  the  vast  activity  of  the 
pamphlet  times,  1640-47,  shows  unequalled  for 
nearly  one  hundred  years,  until  after  the  Press, 
Learned  and  Bible,  had  moved  to  its  present  home 
in  Walton  Street  in  1830.  The  appendices  of 
imprints,  statistics,  type,  music  and  paper  are  use- 
ful, and  the  thirty  admirable  illustrations  and  cuts 


include  the  instructive  view  by  Stradanus  of  a  six- 
teenth-century printing-office  from  the  'Nova 
Reperta,'  Antwerp,  c.  1600. 

The  Defence  of  Poesie  :  A  letter  to  Q.  Eliza- 
beth :  A  Defence  of  Leicester.  By  Sir  Philip 
Sidney.  Edited  by  G.  E.  Woodberry.  The 
Merrymount  Press,  Boston.  $6. 
This  fourth  volume  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Updike's  beauti- 
ful '  Humanists'  Library '  contains  Constable's  four 
sonnets  on  the  Death  of  Sidney,  a  text  of  the 
'  Defence  of  Poesie,'  the  letter  to  Queen  Elizabeth 
against  the  marriage  with  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  and 
the  Discourse  in  Defence  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester 
— surely  an  unusually  desirable  collection.  The 
text  of  the  '  Defence  of  Poesie'  is  not  Ponsonby's 
'  Defence,'  nor  is  it  that  of  Olney's  '  Apologie  for 
Poetrie,'  though  Olney's  address  to  the  reader  is 
included  in  the  volume.  It  is,  we  read,  that  of  Dr. 
Ewald  Fliigel's  edition.  But  textual  matters  are 
of  minor  importance  in  publications  which  are 
meant  to  delight  the  eye,  and  succeed  in  delighting 
it  so  infallibly  as  do  these  volumes  with  their 
exquisite  type,  paper  and  spacing. 

Whistler.  By  Bernhard  Sickert.  London  :  Duck- 
worth. 2s.  6d.  net. 
Messrs.  Duckworth's  popular  library  of  art 
maintains  an  average  of  excellence  very  much 
above  that  of  any  other  popular  art  series  now 
published  in  England,  and  Mr.  Bernhard  Sickert's 
little  study  of  Whistler  well  maintains  that  average. 
It  is  written  with  sympathy,  knowledge,  modera- 
tion and  humour,  qualities  that  are  all  needed 
for  dealing  with  the  troublesome,  complex  person- 
ality and  essentially  simple  art  of  Whistler.  Mr. 
Bernhard  Sickert  assumes  some  acquaintance  with 
the  painter's  principal  works,  and  from  the  stand- 
point of  fine  literature  may  possibly  be  thought 
to  have  included  too  many  facts  in  his  survey,  but 
he  writes  with  so  much  point  and  liveliness  that 
the  fault  becomes  venial.  Incidentally  the  book 
faces  some  of  the  most  interesting  problems  of 
modern  art,  and  does  so  with  as  much  sense  as  it 
displays  taste  in  dealing  with  V^/'histler  himself.  It 
can  thus  be  heartily  recommended. 

PRINTS 

We  have  received  from  Messrs.  Chatto  and 
Windus,  the  publishers  to  the  Medici  Society,  the 
latest  addition  to  the  well-known  'Medici'  series  of 
reproductions  in  colour.  Hitherto  this  series  has, 
we  believe,  been  confined  to  Italian  subjects 
painted  in  tempera  or  fresco.  The  print  before 
us  is  taken  from  a  portrait  in  oil  of  a  lady  by  an 
anonymous  Flemish  master  in  the  Vienna  Gallery. 
As  in  the  plates  previously  noticed,  the  reproduc- 
tion is  wonderfully  accurate — indeed,  in  the  upper 
portion  of  the  plate  the  printing  is  so  sharp  and 
minute  that  with  the  aid  of  a  magnifying  glass 

297 


Catalogues 


one  can  trace  not  only  the  minute  surface  cracks 
but  even  see  the  dust  lying  in  their  crevices.  The 
rich  colour  of  the  background,  too,  is  marvellously 
rendered.  It  is  clear  that  under  favourable  condi- 
tions no  feat  of  facsimile  imitation  is  beyond  the 
powers  of  this  Medici  process,  so  that  the  Society's 
publications  should  appeal  not  only  to  the  general 
public  in  virtue  of  their  outward  attractiveness 
but  also  to  the  world  of  students  in  virtue  of 
their  minute  precision. 

We  have  also  received  from  Messrs.  Bruckmann, 
of  Munich,  a  prospectus  of  Matthias  Griinewald's 
Isenheim  altar  piece,  which  is  to  be  published  in 
colour  facsimile  in  large  imperial  size  under  the 
supervision  of  Dr.  Max  Friedliinder.  From  the 
two  specimen  plates  accompanying  the  prospectus, 
one  representing  the  panel  of  The  Virgin  and 
Child  iviih  a  Concert  of  Angels,  and  the  other,  Clirisi 
on  the  Cross  with  Attendant  Saints,  it  is  evident 
that  the  facsimile  is  being  made  with  the  precision 
and  brilliancy  to  which  the  modern  processes  of 
colour  collotype  lend  themselves.  Considering  the 
large  scale  of  the  plates,  the  price  of  120  marks  for 
the  whole  work,  which  includes  six  of  them  to- 
gether with  Dr.Friedlander's  text,  is  quite  moderate, 
especially  when  we  consider  that  the  critical  study 
of  German  painting  has  so  far  been  in  its  infancy 
outside  Germany  itself,  and  that  a  publication  of 
this  kind,  however  perfect,  must  therefore  appeal 
to  a  somewhat  restricted  circle. 

CATALOGUES 

The  catalogues  recently  received  are  of  unusual 
importance.  First  comes  that  of  the  Engraved 
British  Portraits  (A-C)  in  the  British  Museum 
Print  Room,  compiled  by  Mr.O'Donoghue,  which 


we  hope  to  notice  in  greater  detail.  Next  comes 
that  of  the  Bookbindings  shown  at  the  Danish  Arts 
and  Crafts  Museum  in  1906  (Lehmann  and  Stages, 
Kobenhavn)  illustrating  nearly  150  fine  specimens, 
beginning  with  thirteenth-century  enamel  work, 
and  wisely  stopping  at  the  year  1850.  F"rom 
Basle  comes  an  excellent  little  illustrated  catalogue 
(Birkhaiiser,  Basel ;  i  fr.)  of  the  gallery,  so  well 
known  to  students  of  Holbein,  which  does  credit 
to  the  careful  scholarship  of  Dr.  Ganz.  The 
Board  of  Education  have  issued  a  new  edition  of 
the  catalogue  of  water  colours  in  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum,  and  Mr.  Hugh  P.  Lane  with 
characteristic  energy  has  published  an  illustrated 
sixpenny  catalogue  of  the  pictures  in  the  Irish 
Village  at  the  Franco-British  Exhibition.  The 
Staedel  Institute  of  Frankfort  also  sends  an 
interesting  record  of  its  progress  between  the 
years  1894  and  1907,  while  from  the  Colchester 
Museum  we  have  received  an  illustrated  annual 
report,  and  from  Bristol  a  short  monograph  on 
the  ancient  standard  weights  and  measures  pre- 
served in  the  Museum  of  Antiquities. 

Of  business  catalogues  the  most  important  is 
that  issued  by  Martin  Breslauer  (Berlin,  8  marks) 
of  books  dealing  with  '  German  Song,  Religious 
and  Secular,  to  the  Eighteenth  Century,'  the  first 
of  a  series  dealing  with  documents  of  early  German 
life.  It  is  illustrated,  and  includes  a  nimiber  of 
rare  and  curious  things.  Another  good  catalogue 
from  Messrs.  Baer,  of  Frankfort  (No.  557),  contains 
the  first  part  of  the  art  library  of  the  late  Dr. 
Schneider,  of  Mainz,  comprising  early  Christian, 
Byzantine  and  mediaeval  art.  Another  catalogue 
(No.  82),  of  a  miscellaneous  antiquarian  nature, 
comes  from  Messrs.  Gilhofer  and  Ranschburg,  of 
Vienna, 


^    RECENT  ART   PUBLICATIONS  *  ci^ 


ART  HISTORY 
D^CHELETTE  (J.).     Manuel  d'archeologie  prehistorique,  celtique 

et   gallo-romaine.      I.    Archeologie   prehistorique.     (9x6) 

Paris  (Picard),  15  fr.     Illustrated. 
GUYER   (S.).      Die   christlichen    Denkmaler  des  ersten  Jahr- 

tausends  in  der  Schweiz.    (10x6)   Leipzig  (Dieterich), 5  m. 

17  plates. 
Michel  (A.).    Histoire  de  I'art.    Tome  iii  :  Le  realisme ;  les 

debuts  de  la  renaissance.     Premiere  parte.     (12x8)    Paris 

(Colin),  15  fr.     Illustrated. 
HoERSCHELMANN   (\V.   von).     Die   Entwicklung   der  altchine- 

sischen  Ornamentik.  (9x6)  Leipzig  (Voigtlandcr),  5  m.  50. 

52  pp.,  illustrated. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL  ANTIQUITIES 
S.MITH  (G.  A.).     Jerusalem:   the  topography,  economics  and 

history,  from  the  earliest  times  to  a.d.  70.    2  vols.  London 

(Hodder  and  Stoughton),  24s.  net. 
RoTT  (H.).     Kleinasiatische  Denkmaler  aus  Pisidien,  Pamphy- 

lien,  KappadokienundLykien.  (10x7)  Leipzig  (Dieterich). 

Illustrations  and  map. 
MiLTOUN  (F.).     Castles  and  chateaux  of  Old  Navarre  and  the 

Basque  provinces.     With  illustrations  from  pointings   by 

B.  McManus.     (8  x  6)     London  (Pitman),  7s.  6d.  net. 


Sizes  (height  X  width)  in  inches. 


ARCHITECTURE 
Chapot  (V.).     La  colonne  torse  et  le  decor  en  helice  dans  Part 

antique.     (10x7)     Paris  (Leroux),  yfr.  50.     Illustrated. 
Sabatini  (F.l.     La  chiesa  di  S.  Salvatore  in  Thermis,  it  '  Salva- 

torello  '  al  Palazzo  Madama.     (10  x  7)  Rome  (tip.  Filipucci), 

1.  I.     4  illustrations. 
Venturi   (A.).     La  basilica   di    Assissi.     (7x5)     Rome   (Casa 

editrice  de  '  I'Arte'),  1.  5.     Illustrated. 

JEFFERY  (G.).  A  summary  of  the  architectural  monuments  of 
Cyprus  (chiefly  mediaeval  and  later).  Prefatory  notes  and 
part  vi  :  Kyrenia  district.  (10x6)  Nicosia  (Government 
Printing  Office),  4d. 

Norman  (P.).  Crosby  Place.  With  an  architectural  description 
by  W.  D.  Caroe.  (11x9)  London  (Committee  for  the 
Survey  of  the  Memorials  of  Greater  London).     Illustrated. 

DiTCHFlELD  (P.  H.).  The  charm  of  the  English  village.  Illus- 
trated by  S.  R.  Jones.     (10x7)     London  (Batsford). 

Old  cottages  and  farmhouses  in  Surrey.  Photographed  by 
W.  Galsworthy  Davie.  With  introductory  sketches  by 
W.  Curtis  Green.  (10x7)  London  (Batsford),  21s.  net. 
100  plates. 

Melhop  (W.).  Alt-Hamburgische  Bauweise.  (10x7)  Hamburg 
(Boysen  and  Maasch),  16  m.     Illustrated, 


298 


Recent  Art  Publications 


BIOGRAPHICAL  WORKS  AND  MONOGRAPHS 
Lewis  (C.  T.  Courtney).     George  Baxter,  colour  printer  :  his 

life  and  work.     A  manual  for  collectors.     (8x5)     London 

(Sampson,  Low),  63.  net. 
MacDonald  (G.).  The  sanity  of  William  Blake.  (7x4)  London 

(Fifield),  IS.  net.     6  plates. 
Haivette  (H.).     Ghirlandajo.     Paris  (Plon,  Nourrit),  3fr.  50. 

Illustrated. 
Cossio  (M.  B.).     El  Greco.     2  vols.     (8x5)     Madrid  (Suarez), 

31  pesetas.  About  190  plates  and  photogravure  frontispiece. 
Algoud(H.).     Gaspard  Gregoire  et  ses  velours  d'.art.     (10x7) 

Paris  (Societe  fran?.  d'imprimerie  et  de  librairie),   10  fr. 

7  plates,  I  in  colour. 
d'Achiardi  (P.).     Sebastiano  del  Piombo  ;  monogratia  storico 

artistica.    (10x7)     Rome  (Casa  editrice  de  '  I'Arte '),  1.  15. 

74  illustrations. 
Gr.autoff  (O.).    Auguste  Rodin.   (10x7)    Leipzig  (Knackfuss), 

3  m.     Illustrated. 
Catalogue  of   the  e.'chibition  of  paintings  by  Senor  Sorolla  y 

Bastida  at  the  Grafton  G.iUeries.     With  a  biographical  and 

critical  essay  by  L.  Williams.     (11x8)     London  (St.  James 

Gallery  Co.),  is.  net.  Illustrated. 
Kallab    (W.).    Vasaristudien.     Mit  einem     Lebensbilde    des 

Verfassers  aus  dessen  Nachlasse  herausgegeben  von  J.  von 

Schlosser.  (9x6)  Leipzig  (Teubner).  Vol.  xv  of  Eitelberger 

von  Edelberg's  Quellenschriften. 
SiCKEiiT  (B.).    Whistler.    (6x4)     London  (Duckworth),  2S.  net. 
Graves  (A.).     The  British  Institution,  1S06-1867.    A  complete 

dictionary  of  contributors  and  their  work  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  institution.   (11x8)    London  (Bell;  Graves),  63s. 

PAINTING 
Bertini  Calosso  (A.).     Gli  affreschi  della  Grotta  del  Salvatore 

presso  Vallerano.     (10x6)     Rome  (R.  Societa  Romana  di 

storia  patria).  58  pp.,  illustrated. 
Fazio  Allmayer  (K.).     La  Pinacoteca  del  Museo  di  Palermo. 

Notizie  dei  pittori  Palermitani.  (7x5)  Palermo  (Reber),  1.  i. 

48  pp. 
VoLL  (K.).     Fiihrer  durch  die  Alte  Pinakothek.   (8  x  5)   Munich 

(Suddeutsche  Monatshefte),  3  m.  50.     Illustrated. 
Benoit  (F.,  and  others).     Histoire    du    paysage   en   France. 

(10x7)     Paris  (Laurens),  12  fr.     Lectures  delivered  at  the 

'Ecole  des  hautes  Etudes  sociales.'     24  plates. 

GOLD- AND  SILVERSMITHS'  WORK 
Smith  (H.  Clifford).     Jewellery.     (10x7)     London  (Methuen), 

25s.  net.    54  plates  (4  in  colour)  and  text  illustrations. 
Foelkersam  (Baron  A.  E.).     Inventaire  de  I'Argenterie  con- 

servee  dans  les  garde  meubles  des  pal  lis  impcriaux  :  palais 

d'Hiver,  palais  Anitchkov  et  chateau  de  Gatchino.     2  vols. 


St.   Petersburg  (Golicke  and  Willborg,  for  the  Ministry  of 

the  Imperial  Household).     In  Russian  ;  with  prefaces  and 

descriptions  of  plates  in  French.    58  plates,  and  facsimiles 

of  marks. 

CERAMICS 
Mosca  (L.).     Napoli  e  I'arte  ceramica  dal  xiii  al    xx  secolo. 

(11x8)     Naples  (Ricciardi),  10 1.     Facsimiles  of  marks,  etc. 
HeuseR   (E.).     Die    Pfalz-zweibriicker    Porzellanmanufaktur. 

(11x8)     Neustadt  an  der  Hardt  (Witters),  10  m.     7  plates, 

text  illustrations,  etc. 

COINS 

Recueil  general  des  monnaies  grecques  d'Asie  Mineure  com- 
mence par  feu  W.  H.  Waddington,  continue  par  E.  Babelon 
et  Th.  Reinach.  Tome  i,  fasc.  2.  (12  x  9)  Paris  (Leroux) 
35  phototype  plates. 

Webb  (P.  H.)  The  reign  and  coinage  of  Car.ausius.  (9x6) 
London  (Spink) ;  Reprinted  from  '  The  Numismatic  Chroni- 
cle.'    ^  plates. 

Wroth  (\V.).  Catalogue  of  the  Imperial  Byzantine  coins  in  the 
British  Museum.  2  vols.  (10  x  6)  London  (British  Museum), 
79  autotype  plates. 

Wktght  (H.  Nelson).  Catalogue  of  the  coins  in  the  Indian 
Museum,  Calcutta.  Including  the  Cabinet  of  the  Asiatic 
Society  of  Bengal.  Vol.  iii ;  Mughal  Emperors  of  India. 
(10  X  7)     London  (Frowde),  40s.  net.    Illustrated. 

ENGRAVING 

ScHl'LZ  (F.T.).  Die  Schrotbliitter  des  germanischen  National- 
museums  zu  Niirnberg.  (14x11)  Strasburg  (Heitz),  5oni. 
31  phototypes. 

Reproductions  of  Prints  in  the  British  Museum.  Third  series, 
II.  Specimens  of  etching  by  Italian  masters.  (20x15) 
25  plates. 

MISCELL.\NEOUS 

Les  Chefs  d'oeuvre  d'art  ancien  a  I'Exposition  de  laToison  d'Or, 
.a  Bruges,  en  1907.  Texte  de  MM.  le  baron  H.  Kervyn  de 
Lettenhove,  etc.  (15x11)  Brussels  (v.  Oest),  100  fr.  103 
plates. 

De  Ridder  (A.).  Collection  de  Clercq,  V.  Les  antiquites 
chypriotes.     (14x11)     Paris  (Leroux),  40  fr.     36  plates. 

BiNEDiTE  (G.).  Catalogue  general  des  Antiquites  egyptiennes 
du  musee  du  Caire  :  Miroirs.  (14x10)  London  (Quaritch), 
31  fr.  IOC,    25  plates. 

Portner  (B.).  Aegyptische  Grabsteine  und  Denksteine  aus 
Athen  und  Konstantinopel.  (13x9)  Strasburg  (Schlesier  & 
Schweikhardt),  I  4m.     11  plates. 

Katalog  der  Octfentlichen  Kunstsammlung  in  Basel,  i  fr.  Illus- 
trated. 


cA^  ART  IN  FRANCE  d^ 


THE    LOUVRE 

Three  men,  named  Julien  and  Emile  Cruau  and 
Leon  Vavasseur,  have  been  arrested  on  the  charge 
of  stealing  from  the  Louvre  on  20th  October, 
1906,  a  statuette  of  Isis  and  another  Egyptian 
statuette.  The  theft  attracted  considerable  atten- 
tion at  the  time,  but  any  hope  of  discovering  the 
thieves  had  long  been  abandoned.  The  statuettes 
are  still  undiscovered,  but  it  is  possible  that  one  or 
other  of  the  men  in  custody  may  give  information. 
Both  statuettes  are  in  bronze  ;  that  of  Isis  repre- 
sents the  goddess  seated,  is  between  14  and  16 
inches  high,  and  is  mounted  on  a  pedestal  of 
yellow  Sienna  marble  ;  the  other  statuette  is  about 
eight  inches  in  height. 

It  has  for  some  time  been  the  custotn  to  exhibit 
important  new  acquisitions  on  a  screen  in  the  Gal- 
lery of  Artists'  Portraits.  M.  Leprieur  has  now 
greatly  improved  this  installation  ;  three  screens 
have  been  erected,  which  are  covered  with  velvet,  so 


that  the  pictures  are  shown  to  much  greater 
advantage.  As  two  of  the  screens  are  so  arranged 
as  to  enable  pictures  to  be  hung  on  both  sides,  the 
available  space  is  multiplied  by  five,  and  drawings 
as  well  as  paintings  can  now  be  hung  there  tem- 
porarily before  they  pass  to  their  permanent  home 
on  the  walls  of  the  gallery.  Here  were  recently  to 
be  seen  five  pictures  bequeathed  by  Madame 
Cuvelier,  two  of  which  are  of  very  good  quality 
— namely,  La  Conscitsc  of  Millet  and  the  beautiful 
little  Madeleine  lisant  of  Corot ;  the  Cuvelier 
bequest  also  includes  two  landscapes  by  Corot  of 
the  ordinary  type  and  a  Diaz  of  small  importance. 
Four  interesting  portraits  bequeathed  by  the  late 
M.  Marmontel  were  also  shown  :  that  of  Chopin  by 
Delacroix ;  a  portrait  believed  to  be  that  of  Gluck  by 
Greuze  (a  very  line  work)  ;  a  portrait  of  Marmontel, 
the  man  of  letters  and  ancestor  of  the  legator,  by 
Lepicie  ;  and  a  portrait  of  Stephen  Heller  by 
Ricard.    Here  also  were  the  pictures  and  drawings 

299 


Art  in  France 


included  in  the  bequest  of  M.  Audeoud,  who  left 
all  his  property  to  the  Louvre.  The  most  impor- 
tant is  the  exquisite  little  oil  sketch  by  Fragonard, 
Le  voeu  a  V Amo\ir,  formerly  in  the  Walferdin 
collection.  The  Audeoud  bequest  also  includes  a 
very  interesting  drawing  by  Fragonard,  a  portrait 
of  his  daughter  Rosalie  (formerly  in  the  Goncourt 
collection) ;  the  well-known  and  charming  tinted 
drawing  of  Augustin  St.  Aubin,  An  mains  soycz 
discret,  which  is  engraved  ;  a  drawing  by  Boucher  ; 
a  little  picture  by  Boilly  and  two  gouaches,  La 
Parade  of  Tounay  and  La  Le(on  de  danse  of 
Lavreince.  On  the  other  side  of  the  same  screen 
were  five  water  colours  and  four  drawings  by  a 
Lyonnese  artist,  Ravier,  which  have  been  presented 
by  the  Ravier  and  Thiollier  families  ;  they  show 
the  influence  both  of  Corot  and  of  Delacroi.x,  but 
are  quite  sufficiently  personal  and  interesting  to 
find  a  place  in  the  Louvre.  Beside  them  was  a 
water  colour  by  Gavarni,  given  by  Madame  Leroy 
{nee  Spronck). 

Several  fine  drawings  which  have  recently  been 
purchased  have  also  been  exhibited  for  the  first  time. 
Among  them  are  two  highly-finished  water  colours 
by  Ingres,  one  representing  a  papal  Mass  at  the 
high  altar  of  St.  Peter's,  the  other  the  refectory  of 
an  Italian  convent  ;  the  former  was  once  in  the 
VValerichen  collection.  A  design  in  water  colour 
by  the  same  master  for  a  ceiling  in  the  old  Hotel 
de  Ville  of  Paris  has  historical  as  well  as  artistic 
interest,  for  the  ceiling  itself  of  course  disappeared 
when  the  building  was  destroyed  during  the  Com- 
mune. The  subject  of  the  design,  which  was 
altered  in  certain  details  in  the  actual  work,  is  the 
apotheosis  of  Napoleon  I.  Two  oil  sketches  and 
a  drawing  by  Carpeaux  are  also  interesting  from 
the  historical  point  of  view  ;  the  oil  sketches 
represent  state  balls  at  the  Tuileries  during  the 
second  Empire.  There  are  several  important 
drawings  by  Corot  and  Delacroix,  bought  at  the 
Robaut  sale  with  the  assistance  of  the  Societe  des 
Amis  du  Louvre,  which  also  presented  the  three 
frames  of  water  colours  and  drawings  by  Delacroix 
from  the  Chd:ramy  collection.  The  new  Greco 
which  I  described  at  the  time  of  its  purchase  (page 
52  ante)  will  be  placed  on  the  screen  as  soon  as  its 
frame  is  ready. 

Many  of  the  new  acquisitions  above  men- 
tioned have  now  been  hung  in  the  galleries 
on  the  upper  floor,  which  are  devoted  to  modern 
French  paintings.  M.  Leprieur  has  entirely 
re-arranged  these  galleries,  which  were  re-opened 
to  the  public  on  July  15th.  In  the  first  gallery  are 
the  pictures  of  the  school  of  1830  ;  in  the  second 
the  Thomy-Thierry  collection,  and  in  the  third,  pic- 
tures of  the  later  19th  century.  The  new  arrange- 
ment has  been  made  with  great  taste  and  judgment, 
and  the  pictures  are  shown  to  much  greater  advan- 
tage than  before.  M.  Leprieur  has  hung  the  best 
pictures  "  on  the  line  "  and  has  arranged  them  from 

300 


the  point  of  view  of  artistic  effect  and  of  directing 
the  least  instructed  visitors  unconsciously  to  the 
finest  works.  One  can  now  appreciate  the  superb 
Thomy-Thierry  bequest  at  its  full  value  and  compare 
in  the  first  two  galleries  the  best  works  of  Corot 
with  the  pictures  which  he  painted  for  the  market. 
It  is  particularly  interesting  to  compare  the  Beffrol 
de  Douai,  painted  in  1871  (see  The  Burlington 
Magazine,  Vol.  XII,  p.  383,  March,  1908),  with  the 
exquisite  Italian  pictures  of  Corot's  early  period, 
hung  in  the  same  gallery.  The  resemblance  is  as 
remarkable  as  is  the  contrast  between  these  works 
and  the  ordinary  product  of  Corot's  later  period. 

The  two  portraits  by  Chardin  bought  lastyear  have 
been  placed  in  frames  of  the  period,  which  greatly 
improve  their  appearance  ;  they  are  hung,  with 
other  pictures  by  Chardin,  in  the  Salle  Daru.  In 
one  of  the  small  rooms  near  the  gallery  of  pastels, 
which  was  formerly  devoted  to  Rembrandt's  draw- 
ings, is  now  placed  the  interesting  collection  of 
gouaches,  water  colours,  miniatures,  etc.,  by  the  two 
brothers  Van  Blarenberghe,  which  was  bequeathed 
to  the  Louvre  last  year  by  Mme.  Thiebaut-Brunet, 
the  last  descendant  of  the  celebrated  eighteenth- 
century  artists.  A  special  room  near  the  gallery  of 
Flemish  and  German  painters  of  the  fifteenth 
century  has  been  set  apart  for  the  drawings  of 
Rembrandt,  with  a  selection  of  drawings  by  certain 
of  his  pupils.  M.  Heron  de  Villefosse  has  entirely 
rearranged  the  Salle  Grecque,  and  has  excluded 
from  it  all  the  doubtful  objects  ;  he  has  also  placed 
in  it  two  cases  of  small  marble  pieces  which  were 
hidden  away  in  cupboards.  Visitors  to  the  Louvre 
this  summer  will  find  that  the  recent  structural 
alterations  have  greatly  improved  the  gallery. 

In  addition  to  the  pictures  actually  acquired, 
what  may  be  called  a  reversionary  acquisition  of 
great  importance  has  also  to  be  recorded.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  an  extremely  interesting  por- 
trait of  the  little  dauphin  Charles-Orland,  son  of 
Charles  VIII,  was  included  in  the  exhibition  of 
French  primitives  in  1904.  This  picture,  which 
was  tentatively  attributed  to  Bourdichon,  is  a 
document  of  the  first  importance  for  the  history  of 
French  art  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It 
was  actually  offered  to  the  Louvre  some  years  ago 
for  ;^40o,  and  M.  Lafenestre,  who  was  then  the 
keeper  of  pictures,  desired  to  buy  it,  but  he  was 
overruled  by  the  Council  of  the  museum.  The 
picture  was  bought  by  Messrs.  Agnew,  after  the 
exhibition  in  1904,  and  M.  Leprieur  recently  pro- 
posed once  more  its  purchase  by  the  Louvre,  but 
the  Council  again  refused  to  sanction  it  on  account 
of  the  price  asked — ;^'5,ooo.  This  picture  has  now 
been  bought  by  a  well-known  Mexican  collector 
residing  in  Paris,  who  has  already  been  a  generous 
loenefactor  of  the  department  of  coins  and  medals 
in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  and  who  makes  no 
secret  of  his  intention  to  give  the  picture  ultimately 
to  the  Louvre, 


Art  in  France 


It  is  a  matter  for  intense  satisfaction  that  a  pic- 
ture which  ought  never  to  have  been  allowed  to 
leave  the  country  should  thus  be  secured  to  France, 
but  the  action  of  the  Council  of  the  Louvre  has 
naturally  been  the  subject  of  severe  criticism.  But 
for  the  Council,  the  Louvre  would  have  obtained 
this  picture  for  less  than  one-tenth  of  what  is  now 
its  market  value ;  this  case  is  one  more  example 
of  the  disastrous  results  of  refusing  a  free  hand 
to  the  directors  of  museums.  The  '  Chronique  des 
Arts '  has  taken  the  opportunity  of  raising  the 
question  whether  the  present  system  ought  not  to 
be  altered.  At  present  the  Council  of  the  Louvre 
is  supreme  ;  nothing  can  be  bought  without  its 
consent,  and  all  that  those  who  are  responsible  for 
the  direction  of  the  museum  can  do  is  to  recom- 
mend purchases.  They  have  not  even  a  vote  on 
the  Council.  The  result,  as  the 'Chronique  des 
Arts '  says,  is  that  purchases  recommended  after 
careful  consideration  by  conservateurs  who  have 
both  the  qualifications  and  the  opportunity  for 
forming  a  judgment  are  rejected  by  the  Council 
after  a  short  deliberation  ;  sometimes  without  the 
object  even  having  been  seen  by  some  of  the  mem- 
bers. The '  Chronique  des  Arts'  also  points  out  that 
the  most  obstructive  members  of  the  Council  are 
the  artists,  and  asks  to  what  extent  an  artist  is 
necessarily  competent  to  decide  what  ought  to  form 
part  of  a  museum  which  is  a  gallery  of  history 
and  a  storehouse  of  the  great  works  of  the 
past.  It  maintains  that  experience  shows  modern 
artists  to  be  too  often  extremely  narrow  in  their 
views  and  far  from  competent  in  their  judgments. 
The  difficulty  is  one  familiar  to  the  readers  of 
The  Burlington  Mag.azine  in  regard  to  the 
English  museums.  It  is  quite  certain  that,  so  long 
as  the  directors  of  museums  are  denied  any 
initiative  or  freedom  of  action  and  are  placed 
under  the  control  of  a  miscellaneous  committee, 
the  museums  in  which  this  system  prevails  will 
suffer.  It  is  the  fact  that  the  directors  of  the 
Berlin  museum  are  given  a  position  of  freedom 
and  responsibility  that  has  enabled  them  to  achieve 
such  great  results  during  the  last  few  years.  So 
long  as  London  and  Paris  continue  to  keep  their 
museum  directors  in  leading  strings  they  will 
continue  to  be  often  forestalled  by  Berlin. 

An  architect,  M.  Pierre  Edouard  Dumont,  who 
died  recently,  has  left  to  the  Louvre  the  bust  by 
Guillaumeof  Alme.  Dumont,  a  portrait  of  Prosper- 
Deschamps  by  Hersent,  a  picture  by  Canaletto,  a 
portrait  of  a  woman  by  Mignard,  and  Corot's  Le 
Coup  de  Vent.  M.  Dumont  has  also  bequeathed  to 
the  Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts  a  large  part  of  his  fine 
library  of  books  relating  to  architecture. 

BIBLIOTHfeQUE    NATIONALE 
The    Bibliotheque    Nationale    has    received    a 
magnificent    bequest    by    the   will     of     the    late 


M.  de  Naurols,  the  well-known  bibliophile,  who 
has  bequeathed  to  the  library  the  whole  of  his 
famous  collection  of  manuscripts  and  letters 
of  writers  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries.  The  collection  includes  books  on 
vellum  and  illustrated  manuscripts  annotated  by 
Jean  and  Louis  Racine  and  by  Andre  Chenier ; 
autograph  letters  of  Jean  Racine,  Jean-Baptiste 
Rousseau,  Louis  Racine,  Voltaire,  Nicole,  d'Agues- 
seau  and  many  others  ;  and  the  whole  of  the 
original  manuscripts  of  Louis  Racine,  the  son  of 
the  great  dramatist,  including  his  unpublished 
works.  The  value  of  this  collection  to  the  histo- 
rian of  French  literature  is  inestimable. 

M.  Omont,  keeper  of  manuscripts  in  the  Biblio- 
theque Nationale,  has  acquired  for  his  department 
a  collection  of  272  manuscripts  relating  to  the 
history  of  France  from  the  tenth  to  the  seventeenth 
century,  which  formed  part  of  the  library  of  the 
late  Sir  Thomas  Philipps.  The  manuscripts  include 
the  most  ancient  copy  in  existence  of  the  statutes 
and  privileges  of  the  University  of  Paris  ;  a  unique 
manuscript  of  a  similar  character  relating  to  the 
Faculty  of  Law  ;  the  first  register  of  the  Parlement 
de  Poitiers,  dated  1418  ;  two  texts  of  the  '  Estab- 
lissements  de  Saint-Louis '  ;  a  manuscript  of  the 
'  Conseil  de  Pierre  de  Fontaine ' ;  a  copy  of  the 
'  Liber  libertatum '  of  the  Dauphin(^  (fifteenth 
century),  etc.  There  are  also  a  large  number  of 
cartularies  of  the  great  religious  houses  and  col- 
legiate churches,  including  that  of  the  chapter 
of  Langres  (thirteenth  century),  which  is  unique 
and  is  of  the  greater  importance  from  the  fact 
that  all  the  archives  of  the  town  of  Langres 
were  destroyed  in  a  fire  about  twenty  years  ago. 
This  acquisition  has  been  rendered  possible  by  the 
generosity  of  the  Baroness  James  de  Rothschild, 
Baron  Edmond  de  Rothschild,  M.  Maurice 
Fenaille  and  other  donors.  It  is  hoped  that  other 
benefactors  will  come  forward  and  enable  the 
library  to  acquire  a  large  number  of  manuscripts 
relating  to  the  history  of  France  during  the  reign 
of  Louis  XVI,  the  Revolution  and  the  First 
Empire,  which  are  still  at  Cheltenham. 

By  the  will  of  Mademoiselle  Gibout,  recently 
deceased,  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  inherits  nine- 
teen books  bound  in  red  morocco,  of  the  year 
1764,  which  are  supposed  to  have  formed  part 
of  the  library  of  the  dauphine  Marie,  second 
wife  of  the  eldest  son  of  Louis  XV.  The  books 
include  a  missal  of  the  use  of  Paris  in  eight 
volumes,  a  vesperal  in  two  volumes,  a  night  Hours 
in  eight  volumes,  etc.  Mademoiselle  Gibout  has 
also  bequeathed  to  the  Mus6e  Carnavalet  a  pastel 
portrait  of  Jean  Viennet,  cure  of  Saint-Merri,  the 
last  Parisian  cure  who  remained  faithful  to  the 
Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy  ;  he  died  under 
the  Consulate  without  having  submitted  to  Rome. 

Two  very  important  and  valuable  gifts  have 
been    made    to    the   department    of    coins    and 


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Art  in  France 

medals.  M.  Zay,  the  well-known  numismatist, 
has  presented  his  collection  of  about  500  coins  of 
the  French  colonies,  which  he  has  spent  forty 
years  in  forming.  The  coins  date  from  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV  to  the  present  time,  and  most  of 
them  are  of  great  rarity.  Still  more  important  is 
the  famous  Armand-Valton  collection  of  coins 
and  medals,  the  formation  of  which  was  begun 
many  years  ago  by  the  late  Alfred  Armand  ;  he 
bequeathed  it  to  his  friend  and  collaborator. 
Prosper  Valton,  who  continued  until  his  death  to 
add  to  the  collection.  M.  Valton  had  often  ex- 
pressed his  desire  that  the  collection  should  find 
a  home  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  and 
his  widow  has  now  presented  it  in  accordance 
with  his  wishes.  The  collection,  which  is  almost 
priceless,  contains  no  less  than  15,000  Greek  and 
Roman  coins,  and  2,000  examples— originals  or 
casts — of  the  famous  Italian  medallists  of  the 
Renaissance.  An  article  on  the  collection,  by 
M.  Babelon,  the  keeper  of  coins  and  medals,  will  be 
published  in  an  early  number  of  '  La  Revue  del'Ait 
ancien  et  moderne.'  Both  the  Zay  and  Armand- 
Valton  collections  are  now  exhibited  in  the 
Bibliotheque  Nationale.  Mme.,  Valton  has  also 
presented  to  the  Library  of  the  Ecole  des  Beaux- 
Arts  the  collection  of  drawings  formed  by  her 
husband. 

Mrs.  Rosalind  Birnie  Philip,  executrix  of 
Whistler,  has  presented  to  the  department  of 
prints  two  portfolios  containing  the  whole  of 
V^histler's  work  in  lithography,  in  all  eighty-seven 
prints.  The  department  already  possesses  a  fine 
collection  of  Whistler's  etchings. 

THE  NEW  LUXEMBOURG 
It  has  long  been  evident  that  the  present 
quarters  of  the  Musee  du  Luxembourg  were 
becoming  quite  inadequate.  The  collection  has 
grown  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  old  orangerie 
of  the  palace,  and  hardly  an  inch  of  space 
remains  unoccupied.  The  sculpture,  in  particular, 
is  so  crowded  together  that  it  is  impossible 
to  see  it  to  advantage.  No  doubt  further  accom- 
modation would  have  been  provided  before 
now,  but  for  the  impossibility  of  enlarging  the 
present  building.  Apart  from  the  difficulty  of 
adding  to  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  public  opinion 
would  hardly  tolerate  any  encroachment  on  the 
gardens  of  the  Luxembourg. 

The  action  of  the  Pope  in  regard  to  the  Law  of 
Separation,  by  placing  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Government  the  seminary  of  Saint-Sulpice,  provi- 
ded the  opportunity  which  had  long  been  wanted, 
and  it  was  decided  last  year  that  the  museum 
should  be  transferred  to  the  other  side  of  the  Rue 
de  Vaugirard.  The  seminary  building  is  naturally 
very  unsuited  at  present  to  be  the  home  of  a  col- 
lection of  paintings  and  sculptures,  and  there  were 


some  who  doubted  whether  it  would  be  possible 
to  convert  it  satisfactorily.  It  would  seem,  however, 
that  M.  Deruaz,  the  architect  of  the  Luxembourg, 
has  succeeded,  in  collaboration  with  M.  Leonce 
Ben6dite,  in  solving  the  difficulties  of  the  problem. 
The  plan  for  the  conversion  of  the  seminary  of 
Saint-Sulpice  into  a  museum,  which  he  has  sub- 
mitted to  the  Ministry  of  Fine  Arts,  has  met  with 
the  warm  approval  of  M.  Dujardin-Beaumetz, 
Assistant-Secretary  of  State,  and,  so  far  as  it  is 
possible  to  judge  at  present,  that  approval  would 
Seem  to  be  fully  justified. 

Very  little  will  be  left  of  the  present  building, 
except  its  shell.      The  present  roof,  which  is  in 
very  bad  repair,  will  be  replaced  by  a  glass  one, 
and  the  principal  fa9adeon  the  Place  Saint-Sulpice 
will    be  very    much     altered.     All    the    present 
windows   will   disappear  ;  there   will    be   a   large 
pavilion  at   the   principal   entrance,  with   similar 
pavilions  at  each    end   of   the   facade.     The   low 
buildings  at  the  corner  of  the  Place  Saint-Sulpice 
and  the  Rues  Bonaparte  and   Ferou  will   be  re- 
moved, so  that  the  garden  will  entirely  surround 
the  building.     The  high  walls,  which    now  hide 
the  garden,  will  also  be  removed  or  greatly  reduced 
in    height.     In   this  way,  the  building,  which  at 
present   resembles   a   barrack    or    a    prison,   will 
be  made  an  ornament  to  the  Place  Saint-Sulpice. 
The   changes   in    the   interior   will   be   equally 
sweeping.     The  two  upper  floors  will   be  swept 
away,  and  the  altered  building  will  consist  of  a 
ground  floor  and  a  first  floor  only.     On  each  floor 
there  will   be  four  galleries  surrounding  a  large 
covered  court,  or  winter  garden,  which  will  be  the 
same  height  as  the  building  itself.     On  the  ground 
floor  a  corridor  will  connect  the  winter  garden 
with  the  present  chapel,  where  the  finest  pieces  of 
sculpture,  marble  and  bronze  will  be  placed.     The 
museum  is  to  have   every  modern    convenience, 
including  lifts  and  a  reading-room,  where  will  be 
found  books  on  art  and  all  the  artistic  magazines. 
M.  Dujardin-Beaumetz  hopes  after  the  recess  to 
obtain  the  necessary  vote  from  parliament  for  the 
work,  which  is  expected  to  take  about  two  years. 
The   estimated    cost    is    about    ^50,000,   a   very 
moderate  sum  in  the  circumstances. 

OTHER  MUSEUMS 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  newly  formed 
Societe  des  Amis  de  Versailles  have  presented  to 
the  Palace  a  tablet  by  Eugene  Lami  commemo- 
rating the  visit  of  Queen  Victoria  to  France  in 
1843.  The  tablet  represents  the  reception  of  the 
Queen  at  Treport  by  Louis-Philippe  and  his  sons. 
M.  de  Nolhac  bought  for  the  museum  at  the 
Cheramy  sale,  for  2,420  frs.,  a  large  portrait  of 
Chateaubriand  by  Girodet-Trioson,  signed  and 
dated  1811  ;  a  marble  bust  of  Fustel  de  Coulanges 
and   a   terra-cotta    bust    of    Etienne    Arago    by 


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Carrier-Belleuse  have  also  been  added  to  the 
museum.  M.  de  NoUiac  has  further  rescued  from 
the  State  furniture  depository  thirteen  of  the  finest 
tapestries  made  for  Versailles  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV,  which  have  been  replaced  in  their  old 
positions  in  the  Palace.  These  tapestries,  made 
after  designs  by  Van  der  Meulen  and  Lebrun,  are 
the  series  known  as  the  Histoire  du  Roi.  They  had 
hitherto  been  lent  by  the  State  somewhat  indis- 
criminately for  various  public  and  official  enter- 
tainments, and  it  is  satisfactory  that  they  are  once 
more  safely  installed  at  Versailles. 

Among  recent  additions  to  the  Luxembourg 
are  a  view  of  Rouen  Cathedral  by  Claude  Monet, 
a  pastel  by  Louis  Legrand  and  paintings  by 
Bracquemond,  Roll,  James  Tissot  and  Frederic 
Bazille,  as  well  as  bronzes  by  Rodixn-^rHoDune 
au  Nez  casse,  a  head  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and 
seven  busts  including  those  of  Victor  Hugo,  Dalou, 
Berthelot  and  Mr.  George  Wyndham. 

A  private  collector,  who  wishes  to  remain 
anonymous,  has  presented  to  the  Petit  Palais  (the 
art  gallery  of  the  town  of  Paris)  what  is  perhaps 
the  masterpiece  of  Jongkind,  the  Claire  de  Liine  a 
Dordreclif,  painted  in  1855,  together  with  pictures 
by  Lepine,  Sisley,  Raffaelli  and  Gaston  La  Touche, 
and  ten  very  fine  bronzes  by  Barye. 

M.  Lapauze  has  arranged  a  permanent  exhibi- 
tion of  modern  prints  in  the  Petit  Palais  and  the 
new  gallery  was  inaugurated  on  27th  June.  The 
collection  includes  a  hundred  engraved  portraits 
presented  by  M.  Biraldi,  among  which  are  those 
of  Baron  Gerard,  Tony  and  Alfred  Johannot  and 
Alfred  de  Vigny,  by  Jean  Gigoux  ;  Daumier,  by 
Feuchere ;  Isabey  and  Decamps,  by  Gavarni ; 
Paul  de  Kock,  by  C.  Nanteuil,  and  a  series  of 
portraits  by  Calamatta  after  Ingres.  Among  the 
other  engravers  represented  are  Fantin-Latour, 
Guerard,  F.  Bracquemond,  Lepere,  Patricot  and 
Charles  Jacque,  the  whole  of  whose  engraved 
work  was  presented  to  the  museum  by  Mme. 
Chaplin. 

A  gallery  has  been  set  apart  in  the  Invalides  for 
documents  relating  to  the  history  of  the  building 
and  other  souvenirs.  They  include  the  deeds  re- 
lating to  the  foundation  of  the  Hotel,  in  1674. 
On  the  walls  have  been  placed  the  portraits  of  the 
Governors  and  pictures  of  certain  events  relating 
to  the  history  of  the  Hotel,  and  in  the  centre  of 
the  gallery  is  a  model  of  the  Hotel  with  its  gardens 
in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  Le  Notre. 

Probably  few  visitors  to  Paris  ever  enter  the 
Musee  Guimet  in  the  Place  d'lena,  which  is 
devoted  to  the  history  of  religions  and  Chinese  and 
Japanese  art.  Yet  this  museum,  which  is  probably 
unique,  is  extremely  interesting.  It  has  lately 
received  several  important  additions,  including  a 
wonderful  collection  of  210  pieces,  brought  by  M. 
Bacot  from  Thibet.  There  is  not  space  here  to 
give  an  account  of  this  profoundly  interesting  col- 


lection, which  throws  valuable  light  on  Thibetan 
religion,  apart  from  its  intrinsic  interest  as  a  collec- 
tion of  Thibetan  art. 

Paris  has  two  new  museums,  the  Musee 
d'Ennery  and  the  Musee  Balzac.  The  former  is 
lodged  in  the  hotel  of  the  celebrated  dramatic 
author,  59  Avenue  du  Bois  de  Boulogne,  which 
he  bequeathed  to  the  town  of  Paris  together  with 
his  collection  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  art.  The 
keeper  of  the  museum  is  M.  Deshayes,  who  has 
catalogued  about  5,000  objects,  including  a  collec- 
tion of  kogos  lent  by  M.  Clemenceau.  Paris  has 
thus  two  museums  devoted  to  Chinese  and  Japan- 
ese art — the  Musee  Cernuschi  and  the  Musee 
d'Ennery,  as  well  as  the  Musee  Guimet  which  is 
partly  devoted  to  it.  The  Musee  Balzac  is  installed 
in  the  small  house  in  the  rue  Raynouard  which 
Balzac  inhabited  from  1843  to  1848.  It  contains 
at  present  only  the  nucleus  of  a  collection  of 
souvenirs  of  the  master,  including  the  first  model 
of  M.  Rodin's  statue,  presented  by  the  artist. 

A  healthy  tendency  towards  decentralisation  in 
artistic  matters  is  now  to  be  observed  in  France. 
A  symptom  of  it  is  the  admirable  project  which 
has  been  set  on  foot  at  Charleville,  the  principal 
town  of  the  department  of  the  Ardennes.  It  is 
proposed  to  found  a  Musee  Ardennais  in  which 
will  be  collected  the  works  of  painters,  sculptors 
and  other  artists  belonging  to  the  Ardennes  ;  there 
will  also  be  a  library  consisting  of  the  works  of 
writers  and  musicians  born  in  the  department. 
The  initiative  in  the  matter  has  been  taken  by  a 
local  society  called  the  '  Compagnie  des  Francs- 
Galois,'  and  the  municipality  has  granted  a  buildmg 
for  the  museum.  Another  new  provincial  museum 
is  that  of  Doullens  (Somme),  which  was  opened 
by  M.  Dujardin-Beaumetz  on  28th  June. 

GENERAL  NOTES 

A  great  many  visitors  to  Paris  must  have  puzzled 
themselves  as  to  the  significance  of  the  vacant 
pedestal  in  the  gardens  of  the  Louvre,  nearly 
opposite  the  principal  entrance,  which  bears  an 
inscription  saying  that  it  was  presented  to  the 
French  nation  by  the  women  of  the  United  States 
in  honour  of  La  Fayette.  The  pedestal  was  in 
fact  intended  for  an  equestrian  statue  of  La  Fayette 
by  Mr.  Bartlett,  the  American  sculptor.  For  some 
time  a  plaster  cast  of  the  statue  was  placed  on  the 
pedestal,  but  the  ravages  worked  upon  it  by  the 
weather  made  its  removal  necessary  some  three 
years  ago.  The  bronze  statue  itself  has  now,  after 
several  years  of  waiting,  been  placed  in  position,  so 
that  the  inscription  is  no  longer  an  enigma. 
Another  monument  has  also  been  brought  to  a 
long-delayed  completion  ;  the  statue  of  Charle- 
magne in  the  Parvis  Notre-Dame,  which  has  for 
nearly  thirty  years  stood  on  a  temporary  pedestal, 
has  at  last  been  provided  with  its  permanent 
pedestal  in  stone. 


A  A 


303 


Art  in  France 


Paris  has  been  made  the  beautiful  city  that  it  is 
by  the  wliolesome  restrictions  which  have  in  the 
past  been  placed  on  architects  and  builders. 
Unfortunately  during  the  last  few  years  these 
restrictions  have  been  greatly  relaxed  as  a  conces- 
sion to  the  usual  clamour  about  interference  with 
trade.  The  results  of  this  relaxation  have  naturally 
been  deplorable  ;  for  instance  the  line  of  the  roofs 
in  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  has  been  broken  by  the 
erection  of  two  new  hotels  which  rise  above  the 
other  houses  and  ruin  the  symmetr}^  of  that  fine 
street.  The  Place  de  la  Concorde  is  also  threatened 
by  a  new  hotel  which  is  being  erected  at  the 
corner  of  the  Rue  Boissy  d'Anglas  ;  if  it  is 
permitted  to  rise  above  the  magnificent  block  of 
buildings  of  which  it  forms  part,  the  whole  appear- 
ance of  the  Place  de  la  Concorde  will  be  ruined. 
Fortunately  the  authorities  have  apparently  awoken 
to  the  fact  that  the  beauty  of  Paris  is  being  sacrificed 
to  the  bad  taste  and  the  vagaries  of  architects  and 
builders.  The  late  Municipal  Council,  just  before 
it  went  out  of  office,  took  action  in  the  matter  and 
obtained  from  the  Government  a  promise  to  use  its 
legal  powers  strictly  in  the  future.  The  Govern- 
ment has  already  refused  to  approve  a  plan  for 
the  Maison  des  Etudiants  in  the  Rue  de  la 
Bucherie,  on  the  ground  that  it  destroyed  the 
character  of  the  old  building.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  new  Municipal  Council  will  continue  the 
policy  adopted,  not  a  moment  too  soon,  by  its 
predecessor. 

The  Municipal  Council  itself  is  by  no  means 
blameless  in  the  matter  of  ancient  buildings.  The 
entire  destruction  of  the  Abbaye-aux-Bois  may 
have  been  necessary,  but  is  deeply  to  be  regretted. 
And,  although  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  the 
demolition  of  some  beautiful  old  hotels  in  the 
Faubourg  Saint-Germain,  in  order  to  make  way  for 
the  new  Boulevard  Raspail,  certain  buildings  have 
been  unnecessarily  sacrificed  to  a  craze  for  mathe- 
matical exactitude.  It  may  be  hoped  that  the 
artistic  group  recently  formed  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  imder  the  presidency  of  M.  Paul 
Meunier,  will  keep  its  eye  on  such  matters  as 
well  as  on  the  public  museums  and  the  national 
theatres. 

A  recent  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  Educa- 
tion and  Art  Committee  of  the  Municipal  Council 
does  not  promise  very  well.  The  portrait  of 
M.  Henri  Rochefort  by  M.  Marcel  Baschet,  which 
won  the  medal  of  honour  for  painting  in  the 
Salon,  was  offered  by  the  artist  and  by  M.  Rochefort 
jointly  to  the  Town  of  Paris  for  the  Petit  Palais. 
The  committee  already  mentioned  decided  to 
accept  the  picture  on  condition  that  it  should  not 
be  hung  in  the  Petit  Palais  until  after  M. 
Rochefort's  death,  the  alleged  reason  for  the 
decision  being  that  it  might  cause  political  demon- 
strations in  the  Museum  !  This  absurd  decision 
was  universally  ridiculed  by  the  press,  one  of  the 


most  vigorous  protests  against  it  being  made  by 
the  Socialist  paper  '  L'Humanite,' which  cannot  be 
accused  of  sympathy  with  M.  Rochefort's  politi- 
cal opinions.  Fortunately  the  Council  has  since 
over-ruled  it  and  has  accepted  the  picture  uncon- 
ditionally. 

The  Ministry  of  War,  with  a  perhaps  natural 
disregard  for  artistic  considerations,  has  proposed 
to  convert  into  a  barrack  the  late  Petit  Siiminaire 
of  Pont-a-Mousson  (Meurthe-et-Moselle).  This 
building,  which  was  formerly  a  Premonstrant  con- 
vent, is  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  original 
examples  of  the  architecture  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  the  proposal  to  convert  it  to  a  use  which 
certainly  would  not  tend  to  its  preservation  has 
naturally  called  forth  vigorous  protest.  By  some 
strange  oversight,  the  building  has  not  been 
scheduled  by  the  Commission  of  Historical 
Monuments ;  after  the  attention  that  has  been 
called  to  the  matter,  this  omission  will  doubtless 
be  supplied,  and  the  Ministry  of  Fine  Arts  will  veto 
the  proposed  application  of  the  building.  Nearly 
all  the  ecclesiastical  buildings  that  have  lapsed  to 
the  State,  in  consequence  of  the  papal  policy  in 
regard  to  the  Separation  Law,  have  been  scheduled 
as  historical  monuments  if  they  had  the  smallest 
pretension  to  artistic  or  historical  value.  As  in 
the  case  of  the  seminary  of  Saint-Sulpice,  a  large 
number  of  them  are  being  converted  into  museums 
or  public  libraries.  At  Rheims,  for  instance,  it  is 
proposed  that  the  archaeological  and  gothic  collec- 
tions of  the  museum  should  be  transferred  to  the 
fine  archi-episcopal  palace. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Socict(S  des  Sciences 
de  Semur,  M.  Pernet  began  in  April  the  fourth 
series  of  excavations  in  the  ancient  Roman  city  of 
Alesia  at  Alise-Ste-Reine  (Cote  d'Or).  The  new 
excavations  have  already  yielded  very  interesting 
results  ;  a  large  building  with  a  double  colonnade 
has  been  brought  to  light,  as  well  as  an  hypocaust 
with  a  very  curious  arrangement  of  pipes.  On 
the  walls  of  the  latter  are  Gallo-Roman  paintings  in 
fairlv  good  condition,  which  have  been  carefully 
photographed,  measured  and  drawn,  as  it  is  feared 
that  the  action  of  the  air  may  cause  them  to  dis- 
appear before  long.  A  certain  number  of  inter- 
esting objects  in  iron  and  stone,  dating  from  the 
first  century,  have  also  been  turned  up  ;  among 
them  is  a  beautiful  statuette  in  stone  about  21  in. 
in  height,  representing  a  seated  woman  in  ample 
draperies  who  holds  on  her  knees,  with  her  left 
hand,  a  bowl  of  fruit,  and  in  her  right  hand  holds 
a  small  vase ;  on  her  head  is  a  diadem.  The 
excavation  is  now  in  progress  of  what  seems 
likely  to  prove  the  most  important  building  that 
has  yet  been  brought  to  light.  The  columns, 
made  of  enormous  blocks  of  limestone,  stand  on 
an  erection  about  17  feet  high.  The  Marquise 
Arconati-Visconti  has  been  a  generous  subscriber 
to  the  excavations. 


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The  selection  of  the  French  pictures  at  the 
Franco-British  Exhibition  has  been  rather  severely 
criticised  in  England,  but  much  less  severely  than 
here.  The  press  has  spoken  very  strongly,  and  the 
feeling  among  French  amateurs  that  have  seen  the 
exhibition  is  one  of  indignation  at  the  way  in 
which  a  magnificent  opportunity  has  been  wasted. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  English  public  will  not 
form  its  judgment  of  the  French  school  of  the 
nineteenth  century  from  a  show  which  seems  to  be 
largely  composed  of  unsold  pictures  from  last 
year's  Salons.  I  understand  that  the  Ministry  of 
Fine  Arts  has  no  responsibility  in  the  matter  ;  the 
exhibition  is  an  example  of  "private  enterprise." 


The  auction  season  is  now  quite  over.  The  last 
sale  of  any  importance  was  that  of  the  property  of 
the  late  Madame  Bowes  dc  Saint-Amand,  which 
ended  on  June  27th  and  produced  (with  com- 
mission) a  total  of  ;^i7,75S-  Of  this  total,  how- 
ever, two-thirds  were  fetched  by  the  jewellery. 
There  were  no  pictures  of  any  importance,  and  the 
prices  of  the  tapestries,  furniture  and  ohjeis  d'art 
were  not  high.  Some  important  sales  are  promised 
for  November  and  December,  including  that  of  the 
collection  of  a  foreign  artist  resident  in  France, 
who  died  recently,  which  includes  some  important 
pictures  of  the  school  of  1830. 

R.  E.  D. 


cA^  ART  IN  GERMANY,  AUSTRIA  AND   SWITZERLAND  cA. 


PON  the  anniversary  of  Segan- 
tini's  death,  the  28th  of  Septem- 
ber, a  mausoleum  and  museum 
of  the  great  painter  is  to  be 
opened  at  St.  Moritz  in  Switzer- 
land, in  the  vicinity  of  the  place 
where  he  painted  his  finest 
work.  It  is  destined  to  contain 
three  of  his  pictures,  7'he  Tivo  Mothers,  Life  (Sdii), 
and  Death  (Vcrgchen),  photographic  reproductions 
of  most  of  Ins  other  paintings,  some  original 
drawings  and  the  well-known  Segantini  bust  by 
Prince  Troubetzkoy. 

At  Munich  the  50th  anniversary  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  'Allgemeine  Deutsche  Kunstgenossen- 
schaft '  has  been  duly  celebrated.  German  artists 
endeavoured  to  bring  about  a  union  long  before 
political  factors  were  at  work  upon  the  attempt  to 
blend  the  numerous  petty  nationalities  in  Germany. 
As  early  as  1848  such  schemes  were  broached,  but 
it  was  not  before  1858  that  the  big  artists'  society, 
embracing  members  from  all  parts  of  the  Father- 
land, was'formed  at  Diisseldorf.  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  '  Kunstgenossenschaft '  was  to  arrange 
a  German  national  exhibition.  This  took  place  at 
Munich— Frankfort-on-the-Main  having  refused 
assistance  in  the  matter— in  the  same  year.  It  was 
a  signal  success  in  every  way,  and  it  turned  the 
course  of  German  art,  which  had  to  a  great  extent 
drifted  out  to  Rome,  back  into  its  proper  home 
channel.  Until  the  formation  of  the  '  Secession  ' 
at  Munich,  then  at  other  German  cities,  every 
German  artist  of  renown  from  so  far  back  as  1858 
has  been  a  member  of  the  '  Kunstgenossenschaft.' 
The  celebration  at  Munich  included  a  garden 
party  at  which  the  most  famous  pictures  of  these 
most  famous  members,  Defregger,  Diez,  Knaus, 
Menzel,  L.  Richter,  Schwind,  Spitzweg,  etc.,  were 
impersonated. 

The  Bavarian  diet  seldom  busies  itself  with  dis- 
cussing questions  of  art,  and,  when  it  does,  there 
is  always  something  in  the  nature  of  a  sensational 
surprise.     Quite  recently  a  most  emphatic  opposi- 


tion was  raised  there  against  Berlin  influence. 
Some  members  believed  themselves  called  upon  to 
complain  that  certain  museum  authorities  at 
Berlin  were  exercising  undue  influence  upon  the 
way  in  which  acquisitions  were  made  for  the 
Bavarian  museums,  and  upon  the  appointment  of 
members  of  the  museum  staff.  It  is  well  to 
remember  how  diametrically  opposite  to  France 
and  England  Germany  is  situated  in  this  matter. 
Yonder,  Paris  and  London  have  been  the  fountain 
head  of  the  country  ever  since  there  was  any 
civilisation,  and  to  this  day  the  provinces  will 
naturally  be  only  too  glad  to  fall  back  upon  them 
for  help  and  advice.  But  with  us,  centres  like 
Munich,  Stuttgart,  Dresden,  etc.,  had  attained  to  a 
high  grade  of  art-culture  at  a  time  when  Berlin 
was  scarcely  more  than  a  village.  They  all  have 
pronounced  and  old  traditions  to  fall  back  upon  ; 
it  is  natural  that  they  should  want  to  preserve  their 
independence,  and  not  fall  into  line  with  the 
numerous  modern  municipal  institutions— mostly 
in  the  West  of  Germany— which  have  become,  as 
it  were,  vassals  to  Berlin. 

In  the  May  issue  I  referred  to  a  new  Rembrandt 
portrait  in  a  private  collection  at  Berlin.  Since 
then  three  more  Rembrandts  have  been  added,  it 
is  claimed,  to  the  Berlin  stock.  The  first  of 
these,  however,  which  now  belongs  to  Mr.  O. 
Huldschinsky,  has  been  doubted.  It  is  a  bust 
portrait  of  a  young  woman,  bearing  many  points 
of  resemblance  to  early  portraits  of  Hendrikje 
Stoffels.  The  picture  lingered  for  many  months 
in  the  Dresden  market.  Two  of  the  best  Dresden 
connoisseurs  declined  to  admit  its  authenticity, 
and  besides,  so  able  and  well-known  an  authority 
as  Dr.  Hofstede  de  Groot  declared  hnnself 
decidedly  against  it.  The  two  other  paintings, 
both  in  the  Markus  Kappel  collection,  seem  to 
enjoy  much  fairer  claims.  They  are  the  Study  of 
a  Head— the  model  being  the  same  old  man  whom 
Rembrandt  used  for  his  St.  Matthew  in  the  1661 
Louvre  picture— recently  unearthed  by  the  pamter 
Vollon,  at  Paris;  and  a  small  landscape,  which 

3°5 


Art  in  Germany 


hails  from  an  English  private  collection.  The 
composition  reminds  one  slightly  in  parts  of  the 
etching  The  Tluxe  Trees  :  it  gives  us  a  view  over  a 
wide  plain. 

Prof.   Grosse    has   returned    from    China   and 
Japan  with  a  part  of  the  fine  art  collection  which 
he    brings   thence  for    the   new  Berlin  Museum 
of  Asiatic  Art.     The  material  in  hand  was  shown 
to  a  committee  of  students  and  supporters  of  this 
new   institution    the   other  day.      According    to 
reports  Dr.  Koetschau,  who  went  from  Dresden  to 
Weimar   only   a  year  ago,    has   been    appointed 
director  of   the  new   Germanic  Art    Museum  at 
Berlin.     This  institution    is   to   be    housed   in  a 
distinct  building— as  will  be  remembered— and  is 
to  be  formed  by  the   withdrawal  of   the  proper 
objects  of  German  origin  from  all  the  other  Berlin 
museums.     As  far  as  plans  have  been  settled  it  is 
to  contain  only  art  objects— thus  being  not  merely 
a  rival  of  the  Germanische  Museum  at  Nuremberg 
— and  among  these  again  only  a  selection  of  the 
finest.     The  appointment  of   Dr.  Koetschau,  if  it 
has  really  been  decided  upon,  is  a  happy  one.    He 
has  not   exactly  acquired  literary  fame,  but  has 
for  many  years  taken  a  keen  interest  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  administration  of  museums.     He 
is  energetic  and  independent,  and  will  certainly 
arrange  a  museum  that  will  be  among  the  very 
best  of  its  time.     It  is  a  wise  move  to  appoint  a 
man  like  this  so  earl}',  as  his  advice  and  guidance 
will  be  of  the  utmost  use— in  fact,  indispensable — 
to  the  architect  of  the  new  building.    Work  upon 
the  building,  which   is  designed  by  Messel,  is  to 
begin  this  autumn. 

The  National  Galerie  at  Berlin  has  been  en- 
riched by  eight  landscapes  in  tempera,  painted 
by  Johann  C.  Reinhardt,  during  the  years  1825-9, 
for  the  palace  of  Marchese  Massimi,  near  the 
Aracoeli  (Rome).  The  technique  employed 
resembles  most  our  modern  body  colour  ;  it  does 
not  admit  of  varnish,  the  coloration  is  very  light, 


and,  in  imitation  of  fresco  work,  without  strong 
contrasts.  Reinhardt  was  in  his  day  a  much 
admired  master  who  vied  with  j.  A.  Koch,  being 
less  romantic  than  he  and  more  inclined  towards 
amiable  mildness  ;  both,  in  their  way,  tempered 
followers  of  the  great  Poussin.  These  pictures 
were  painted,  like  the  frescoes,  by  Cornelius, 
Overbeck,  etc.,  once  in  the  Casa  Bartholdy,  at  a 
time  when  the  most  important  part  of  German  art 
was  doing  at  Rome.  They  help  to  round  off  the 
excellent  epitome  of  German  painting  during  the 
first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  already 
reflected  from  the  walls  of  the  National  Galerie. 

The  project  of  an  exhibition  of  modern  German 
art  in  Paris,  entertained  by  the  Deutsche 
Kiinstlerbund,  has,  unfortunately,  been  aban- 
doned. One  of  the  principal  hindrances  seems  to 
have  been  the  impossibility  of  getting  loans  from 
the  German  public  museums,  which  harbour  most 
of  the  best  work  that  modern  German  artists  have 
produced.  It  seems  that  in  1900,  so  many  works 
were  seriously  injured  on  their  way  back  from 
Paris,  that  the  German  museums  are  loth  to  entrust 
their  treasures  again  to  the  mercies  of  a  long 
railway  transit. 

The  Moderne  Galerie  at  Vienna,  which  already 
possesses  the  Leiibach  portrait  and  the  Idylt  of  the 
Sea  (1887),  has  just  acquired  a  third,  very  fine 
picture  by  Bocklin,  a  triptych  called  Venus  Genetrix, 
formerly  in  the  Collection  of  Dr.  Neisser  at 
Breslau'.  More  than  ;£3,5oo  were  paid  for  this 
fine  specimen. 

The  Arts  and  Crafts  Museum  at  Leipsig  has 
received  as  a  gift  a  remarkable  late  Gothic  carved 
altarpiece  of  Saxon  origin.  It  was  dedicated  in 
the  year  1475  by  a  burgher  of  Zwickau,  Hans 
Federangel,  to  the  St.  Nicholas  church  at  that 
place.  It  displays  five  gilt  statues,  of  the  Virgin 
with  the  Child,  and  the  Saints  Nicholas,  Peter, 
Barbara  and  Catherine. 

H.  \V.  S. 


^  ART  IN  AMERICA  rX. 


REMBRANDT    AND   VAN    DYCK    IN    THE 

WIDENER  AND  PRICK  COLLECTIONS 
Some  six  months  ago,'  at  the  time  of  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Kann  Collection,  an  opportunity 
occurred  for  comparing  the  aims  and  methods  of 
Rembrandt  and  Hals,  in  connexion  with  the 
portraits  by  those  masters  purchased  by  Mrs.  C.  P. 
Huntington.  Some  extraordinary  acquisitions 
by  Mr.'P.  A.  B.  Widener  and  Mr.  H.  C.  Frick 
seem  to  call  no  less  urgently  for  a  similar  com- 
parative study  of  the  aims  and  methods  of  Rem- 
brandt and  Van  Dyck.  This  study  becomes  the 
more  convenient  from  the  fact  that  each  of  these 

^See  The  Burlington  Magazine,  January,  1908,  Vol.  xii, 
p.  197- 

306 


masters  is  represented  by  a  supreme  and  typical 
example  of  his  genius. 

In  the  case  of  Rembrandt,  that  masterpiece 
is  the  noble  portrait  of  himself,  which  recently 
passed  from  a  famous  English  collection  to  that 
of  Mr.  H.  C.  Frick.  It  earned  universal  admira- 
tion when  it  was  exhibited  a  few  years  ago  in  the 
wonderful  collection  of  Rembrandt's  work  at 
Burlington  House,  and  never  was  admiration 
more  thoroughly  merited.  The  history,  size  and 
general  aspect  of  this  masterpiece  are  so  well 
known  that  I  need  not  recapitulate  them  here. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that  at  the  date,  1658,  to 
which  the  picture  belongs,  Rembrandt's  art  had 
reached  its  full  maturity,  and  the  ideal  after  which 
he  had  struggled  through  many  years  of  varied 


experiment   had   been   completely   and    securely 
attained. 

That  ideal,  as  we  have  seen  in  comparing  his 
portraits  with  those  of  Hals,  was  one  of  isolation. 
The  whole  strength  of  his  genius  was  concen- 
trated upon  an  endeavour  to  set  his  subjects, 
whatever  they  might  be,  in  a  world  apart  from 
our  own,  to  which  the  picture-frame  was  the  one 
window  open  for  human  eyes,  and  in  which  the 
air  was  aglow  with  a  light  that  was  not  the  light 
of  the  sun  or  the  moon,  a  light  that,  while  supress- 
ing  all  local  and  positive  colour,  seemed  itself 
charged  with  particles  of  colour,  as  a  ray  of  sun- 
shine bursting  into  a  room  is  charged  with  vibrant 
innumerable  luminous  dust. 

In  Mr.  Prick's  portrait,  Rembrandt  has  with- 
drawn himself  into  this  world  of  his  own  creation, 
and  sits  there  in  state,  clad  in  rich  easy  robes, 
like  an  aged  prince  on  a  throne,  looking  out  on 
humanity  with  the  piercing  eyes  of  profound 
knowledge  and  infinite  experience.  The  troubles 
and  disasters  of  his  terrestrial  life,  bereavement, 
the  neglect  of  his  contemporaries,  bankruptcy, 
poverty,  have  no  place  here — he  is  a  king  in  his 
own  kingdom,  and  these  calamities  of  his  material 
existence  leave  him  unmoved  and  unaltered, 
except  in  so  far  as  their  impact  in  the  past  has 
left  its  mark  upon  the  rugged  face. 

Of  the  technical  processes  by  which  this  effect 
of  isolation  is  secured  I  have  spoken  in  the 
former  article.  It  wHl  be  suthcient  to  point 
out  once  more  that  the  elimination  of  unessen- 
tial things  and  the  emphasizing  of  essential 
ones  was  not  an  easy  matter  even  for  Rem- 
brandt, and  that  it  was  only  after  repeated 
experiment  that  he  learned  the  necessity  of 
sacrificing  all  that  the  artists  of  his  age  valued  in 
order  to  do  the  thing  which  he  valued  himself. 
First,  he  sacrificed  positive  colour,  because  it  con- 
fused his  purpose,  constantly  introducing  an  em- 
phasis differing  from  that  of  the  main  masses  of 
his  design.  Then  (and  this  was  a  much  harder 
struggle)  he  sacrificed  the  precise  and  forcible  con- 
trasts of  light  and  darkness,  which  he  had  learned 
to  use  more  subtly  and  more  powerfully  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries.  This  sacrifice  involved  his 
immediate  prosperity,  for  his  dramatic  power,  and 
the  technical  ability  by  which  it  was  accompanied, 
were  qualities  which  his  contemporaries,  both 
among  painters  and  the  general  public,  could 
easily\inderstand  ;  so  much  so  indeed  that,  up  to 
the  last  few  years  the  earlier  stages  of  Rembrandt's 
art  were  held  to  be  its  most  perfect  and  typical 
blossoming,  and  in  the  popular  mind  his  name  had 
become  almost  synonymous  with  theatrical  oppo- 
sitions of  blazing  light  and  sombre  shadow. 

To  exchange  those  vigorous  dramatic  contrasts 
for  mysterious  fusion  of  tones,  those  rich  deep 
glazes  of  green  and  crimson  for  dull,  broken  reds 
and  browns  and  greys,  that  smooth  accomplished 


Art  in  America 

brushwork — possessing  at  once  the  perfect  clear- 
ness and  cleanness  of  surface  beloved  by  Northern 
artists  and  those  alternations  of  solidity  and  trans- 
parency, of  breadth  and  precision,  that  mark  the 
great  painter — for  a  rough,  rugged  aggregation  of 
seemingly  formless  touches  was  a  brave,  nay,  a 
quixotic  deed.  It  involved  the  sacrifice  of  all  the 
qualities  which  made  pictures  seem  good  pictures, 
not  only  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  but  even 
to  his  more  educated  patrons,  and  therewith 
involved  extreme  poverty  and  the  reputation  of 
failure,  both  for  the  painter  himself  and  for  those 
dear  to  him  and  dependent  upon  him.  Yet  it  was 
only  by  this  supreme  sacrifice  that  he  was  able  to 
develop  his  genius  to  its  fullest  extent,  and  to 
become  the  painter  of  the  naked  human  soul — a 
field  in  which  the  other  supreme  masters  have 
approached  him  rarely,  or  not  at  all.^ 

When  we  compare  Rembrandt  with  the  great 
painters  of  other  countries,  there  is  one  important 
fact  which  we  must  not  forget,  which,  indeed,  ina 
comparison  with  such  a  painter  as  Van  Dyck  is 
all  important.  The  art  of  Holland  was  an  art  of 
the  cabinet  picture,  an  art  for  the  private  houses 
of  well-to-do  burghers,  for  the  most  part  so 
moderate  in  size  that  its  wooden  frame  played  a  very 
considerable  part  in  its  value  as  a  decorative  unit. 
Provided  the  frame  was  adapted  with  nicety  to  the 
panel  it  enclosed,  the  intrinsic  decorative  quality 
of  the  panel  itself  might  be  of  the  smallest,  and 
yet  the  eye  would  find  no  cause  of  offence.  So 
long  as  the  colouring-  was  not  actually  garish,  the 
framed  picture  would  assort  well  enough  with  the 
chairs  and  tables,  the  doors  and  bedsteads,  among 
which  it  was  placed.  Hence  Rembrandt's  sacri- 
fice of  definite  local  colour  and  of  the  vivid 
arabesques  of  strongly  contoured  masses  in  which 
the  painters  of  other  schools  delighted  was  of  less 
account  in  Holland  than  it  would  have  been  in 
France  or  Italy,  where  pictures  had  to  fulfil  en- 
tirely different  functions. 

Rembrandt  is  indeed,  on  his  own  ground  and 
in  his  own  country,  unsurpassable,  but  we  must 
never  forget  that  the  manner  of  painting  which  he 
perfected  is  not  one  adapted  to  all  places  and  to 
all  occasions.  In  a  great  sunny  palace,  for  example, 
his  modest  panels  of  subtly  varied  darkness  would 
tell  as  spots  or  blots  upon  the  spacious  walls,  and 
the  field  occupied  by  other  artists  with  more 
splendidly  decorative  ideals  is  one  in  which 
Rembrandt's  solitary  and  emphatic  genius  would 
have  found  no  resting-place.  Of  these  master 
decorators   Titian  is,   oi   course,  the  prince,  and 

■-Not  the  least  striking  proof  of  Van  Dyck's  perfect  control 
over  his  medium  is  the  fact  tint  he  was  able  to  retain  a  con- 
siderable force  of  chiaroscuro  without  sacrilicins  colour.  Indeed 
he  employs  colour  and  chiaroscuro  together  witli  so  much  tact 
that,  in  his  portraits  at  least,  they  rarely  or  never  clash ;  and  in 
this  respect  it  is  evident  that  Van  Dyck  possessed  a  faculty 
which  was  denied  to  Rembrandt,  and  indeed  has  perhaps  been 
given  in  like  measure  only  to  Titian,  Correggio,  Rubens, 
Reynolds,  and  Gainsborough. 


Art  in   America 


Van  Dyck  only  one  among  several  great  followers  ; 
but  there  are  numerous  occasions  on  which  Van 
Dyck  holds  his  own  so  completely  in  the  loftiest 
company  that,  when  all  allowance  has  been  made 
for  the  derivative  character  of  much  of  his  art, 
and  for  the  indefinable  suggestion  of  superficiality 
which  is  aroused  by  his  subject  pieces,  a  place 
among  the  great  masters  of  painting  cannot  be 
denied  to  him. 

The  series  of  Van  Dyck  portraits  from  Genoa 
of  which  three  examples  have  passed  into  the 
collection  of  Mr.  P.  A.  B.  Widener,  and  one  into 
that  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Frick,  represent  the  master's 
art  at  the  period  when,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  it 
was  in  its  most  consistently  perfect  phase.  The 
reproductions  of  three  of  these  which,  by  the  per- 
mission of  their  respective  owners,  I  am  allowed 
to  append  to  this  article,'  make  any  detailed 
criticism  almost  unnecessary,  except  in  the  case  of 
the  picture  which  forms  the  frontispiece  to  the 
present  number  of  The  Burlixgtox  Magazine, 
where  the  unusual  scheme  of  colour  calls  impera- 
tively for  notice. 

The  three  pictures  date  from  Van  Dyck's  second 
st.ay  at  Genoa,  about  the  year  1624.  After  learning 
all  that  he  could  learn  from  Rubens  at  Antwerp, 
he  had  travelled  to  Rome  in  the  autumn  of  1621 
by  way  of  Genoa.  P^rom  Rome  he  proceeded  to 
Florence,  Bologna,  Venice  and  Mantua,  and  to 
Rome  he  returned  in  1623,  before  settling  at  Genoa, 
where,  in  the  company  of  the  princely  families 
who  employed  and  enjoyed  his  talents,  he  spent 
several  triumphant  years. 

Gossip  and  scandal  are  often  remembered  when 
more  important  facts  are  forgotten.  Hence  the 
popular  judgment  of  Van  Dyck  is  founded  upon 
the  luxury  and  over-work  of  his  last  years  in 
England,  while  only  those  who  have  studied  his 
career  with  some  attention  know  upon  what 
incessant  study  his  facility  was  based.  That  his 
talent  and  social  success  gave  him  enough 
practice  of  hand  in  the  shape  of  an  endless  stream 
of  fashionable  sitters,  w'e  are  ready  to  recognize  ; 
that  this  practice  was  supplemented  by  constant 
examination  and  analysis  of  the  great  masters  of 
Italy,  and  of  Titian  above  all,  appears  only  when 
we  see  such  direct  evidence  as  his  Italian  sketch- 
book at  Chatsworth,  or  follow  up  the  more  evasive 
but  none  the  less  significant  hints  afforded  by  his 
paintings. 

Van  Dyck  came  to  Italy  a  typical  Flemish 
painter  :  when  he  left  it  he  was  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  an  Italian  one  ;  so  much  so  that  his 
Genoese  work  is  still  sometimes  confused  with 
that  of  certain  local  masters  and  vice  versa.  In 
Northern    Europe    something    of    the     Flemish 

^  For  the  admirable  photographs  by  Messrs.  Braun  we  are 
indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  P.  and  D.  Cohiaghi  and 
Messrs.  Knoedler,  by  whom  the  pictures  with  some  others  were 
rediscovered  in  the  obscurity  of  the  Cattaneo  palace  at  Genoa. 


practice  came  back  to  him,"  for  he  was  ever  of  an 
impressionable  nature.  But  the  lesson  he  learned 
from  the  Venetians  was  never  forgotten,  and  it  is 
of  Titian  and  not  of  Rubens  that  we  think  when 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  masterpieces  of  his 
English  time,  though  here  and  there  some  ample 
contour,  some  touch  of  red  and  white  in  the  flesh 
tints,  or  some  lightly  handled  fold  of  drapery 
reminds  us  that  Van  Dyck  was  by  birth  a  Fleming. 
Derivative  art  is  (quite  rightly,  perhaps)  held 
in  less  esteem  than  art  in  which  the  individual 
and  personal  element]  predominates.  We  must 
remember,  however,  that  there  is  a  limit  to 
individuality  and  isolation,  beyond  which  an 
artist  cannot  go  without  suffering  in  one  way  or 
another.  The  case  of  William  Blake  is  an 
example  ready  to  hand.  His  denial  of  the  current 
art  formulae  of  his  time,  while  it  freed  him  from 
the  invertebrate  conventions  to  which  most  of  his 
contemporaries  were  slaves,  deprived  him  at  the 
same  time  of  that  acquaintance  with  the  technical 
practice  and  artistic  good  breeding  of  the  great 
masters,  for  lack  of  which  his  drawings  not  infre- 
quently fall  short  of  their  destined  effect.  Blake's 
science,  in  fact,  is  often  quite  disproportionate  to 
the  feats  of  presentation  it  is  called  upon  to 
perform. 

Van  Dyck  possibly  went  to  the  other  extreme, 
and  derived  too  much  from  the  example  of  other 
masters  rather  than  too  little  ;  but  this  much  may 
be  said  in  his  defence — he  restricted  his  admiration 
to  the  greatest  master  of  his  own  age,  and  to  the 
supreme  master  of  the  preceding  one,  and  he  took 
from  each  exactly  what  was  best  worth  taking.  On 
to  the  original  stock  of  sound,  honest  Flemish 
portraiture  he  grafted  first  the  splendid  vitality 
and  rhythmic  interlaced  design  of  Rubens ;  then 
with  his  visit  to  Italy  he  added  the  senatorial 
dignity  and  serene  decorative  fitness  of  Titian. 
We  may  divide  the  world's  master  painters  not 
unfairly  into  two  distinct  classes — the  great  in- 
ventors and  the  great  scholars  ;  and  it  is  among 
the  great  scholars  that  Van  Dyck  must  be  placed, 
where  he  has  Raphael  and  Reynolds,  and  some 
may  think  Velazquez  too,  for  company. 

It  is  in  virtue  of  this  scholarship  that  Van  Dyck, 
like  Velazquez,  is  a  master  of  style.  What  he  has 
to  do  he  does  perfectly  so  far  as  the  handling  of 
his  materials — oil  paint  upon  canvas — is  concerned. 
Titian  seldom  forgets  that  he  is  a  Venetian  trained 
in  the  precise  methods  of  tempera  painting,  and 
he  almost  always  carries  something  of  their  clear- 
ness of  statement  and  definition  into  his  handling 
of  oil  paint.  Rubens,  in  the  same  way,  is  from 
first  to  last  a  typical  Fleming,  never  forgetting  the 
fluid  transparent  practice  of  his  countrymen, 
though  enlarging  it  incredibly  in  the  direction  of 
lightness  and  freedom,  just  as  Titian  had  advanced 
the  craft  of  oil  painting  from  its  delicate  beginnings 
as  the  handmaid  of  tempera  to  an  independent  and 


310 


PORTRAIT   OK   CAXEVAUO.      I'.Y   VAX    DVlK 

IX   THE   COLLECTION    OF   MK.    HliXKV   C.    IKICK 


3 


f 


AI;t  in  amI'KICa 

PLATE    II 


Art  in  America 


manly  art,  almost  infinite  in  scope,  and  approach- 
ing in  its  later  stages  the  method  of  Rembrandt. 

The  ambitious  intellect  of  Van  Dyck  fastened 
upon  these  two  traditions,  and  extracted  from 
each  just  those  elements  that  were  most  valuable. 
From  Rubens  he  took  the  swiftness,  the  glow,  the 
vitality,  and  the  transparency  of  the  Flemish 
method  ;  from  Titian  he  learned  the  science  of 
decorative  pattern,  the  value  of  large  quiet  masses 
interchanged  and  combined  into  a  grand,  simple 
mosaic.  In  comparison  with  him  Titian  exhibits 
less  fluency,  and  Rubens  less  largeness  of  plan, 
less  dignity,  less  self-control. 

Equipped  thus,  it  might  seem  as  if  the  world 
had  found  a  perfect  oil  painter  ;  and  that,  in  aisense, 
is  not  very  far  from  the  truth.  Certainly  as  regards 
style,  the  manner  of  saying  a  given  thing  in  the 
best  possible  way.  Van  Dyck  is  hardly  the  inferior 
of  any  man.  It  is  in  the  matter  of  his  art,  if  any- 
where, that  the  weakness  lies  ;  in  his  temper  rather 
than  in  his  representative  faculty.  It  is  clear  that 
he  lacked  the  profound  spiritual  insight  of  Rem- 
brandt, the  stern  yet  tender  sincerity  of  Velazquez, 
and  the  unrelenting  justice  of  Holbein,  just  as 
much  as  he  lacked  the  fire  of  his  masters,  Titian 
and  Rubens  ;  and  the  special  virtue  of  his  own 
which  he  has  to  offer  in  their  place  is  not  one  to 
which  the  world  attaches  supreme  value. 

Not  without  some  justice  was  Van  Dyck  nick- 
named il  pittoie  cavallercsco  by  the  ruder  spirits  in 
the  Flemish  colony  in  Rome.  He  was  a  born 
courtier,  one  who  breathed  the  atmosphere  of  a 
palace  as  naturally  as  his  critics  breathed  that  of 
a  tavern,  and  the  courtier  to-day  is  out  of  favour 
with  us.  We  live  in  a  democratic  age  which 
despises,  or  at  least  does  not  dare  to  admire  openly, 
the  refinement  and  luxury  which  surround  its 
ruling  class.  We  are  all  for  the  virtues  of  honest 
independent  poverty,  and  the  appearance  of  good 
breeding  is  held  almost  as  frequently  for  a  sign 
of  weakness,  as  the  appearance  of  wealth  is  taken 
for  a  proof  of  degeneracy.  An  age  thus  constituted 
is  unlikely  to  do  justice  to  Van  Dyck,  who  worked 
at  a  time  when  princes  were  not  ashamed  to  bear 
themselves  like  princes,  and  to  conduct  the  affairs 
of  life  with  a  state  and  ceremony  befitting  their 
high  place.  Of  this  opulent  refinement  Van  Dyck 
is  the  acknowledged  master ;  but,  before  con- 
demning it  as  mere  surface  display,  there  are 
certain  facts  which  in  common  fairness  we  must 
recognize. 

First  and  foremost,  as  I  have  already  suggested. 
Van  Dyck  had  to  fulfil  certain  primary  functions 
of  painting  which  could  hardly  have  been 
adequately  fulfilled  by  any  other  art  than  that 
which  he  practised.  His  subject  pieces  and  his 
numerous  portraits  were  required  to  ornament 
sumptuous  palaces  ;  it  was  essential  therefore  that 
they  should  be  themselves  imposing  in  scale  and 
splendid   in  design  to  be  in  harmony  with   their 


surroundings.  Their  stately  decorative  character 
was  thus  more  than  a  matter  of  choice,  it  was  a 
matter  of  necessity. 

That  he  flattered  his  sitters,  that  he  gave  them 
all  an  air  of  courtliness,  that  he  neglected  their 
real  character  and  was  content  to  paint  hardly 
more  than  the  outward  trappings  of  their  state  and 
dignity,  is  the  substance  of  the  main  accusation 
brought  against  him.  So  far  as  the  last  part  of 
the  charge  is  concerned,  the  answer  is  obvious. 
The  luxurious  appanages  of  his  high-born  patrons 
were  just  the  materials  which  Van  Dyck  as  an 
artist  naturally  enjoyed  and  used  to  fulfil  the  decor- 
ative conditions  imposed  upon  him,  and  in  doing 
so  he  did  no  more  than  every  great  painter  has 
done  who  has  had  similar  problems  to  face. 

That  Van  Dyck  gave  his  sitters  a  universal  air 
of  good  breeding  is  true,  and  perhaps  the  gravest 
item  in  the  indictment  against  him.  Even  this 
charge,  however,  may  be  over-stated.  Good-breed- 
ing, after  all,  is  not  a  bad  thing  in  itself :  if  it  tends 
to  conceal  a  man's  real  nature  by  covering  the 
secret  passions,  the  secret  doubts,  and  the  secret 
vices  of  his  soul,  in  doing  so  it  at  least  fits  its 
possessor  better  to  take  his  place  in  the  world's 
citizenship  by  removing  obstacles  to  his  inter- 
course with  his  fellow  men.  For  a  man's  own 
age  at  least  it  represents  an  effective  augmentation 
of  his  personality  rather  than  the  reverse,  and  it  is 
only  to  inquisitive  posterity  that  a  rugged,  naked 
character  will  become  more  interesting  than  one 
whose  corners  and  angles  have  been  so  rounded 
off  that  his  image  is  that  of  a  citizen  of  the  world, 
pleasant  and  easy  of  approach,  but  trained  to  keep 
his  private  affairs  to  himself.  If  Van  Dyck  pre- 
ferred the  social  man,  where  Rembrandt  preferred 
the  solitary  one,  the  preference  should  not  of 
necessity  be  held  as  a  proof  of  inferiority. 

A  real  fault  which  he  developed  with  disastrous 
consequences  to  subsequent  art,  was  developed 
when  he  arrived  in  England, and  when  commissions 
crowded  upon  him  from  men  in  all  ranks  of  life. 
In  the  lordly  society  of  Genoa  his  sitters  were  all 
men  of  high  rank  to  whom  a  courtly  bearing  was 
natural,  or  at  least  seems  so.  During  Van  Dyck's 
last  years  in  England  he  bestowed  this  courtliness 
on  all  sitters  alike,  gentle  and  simple,  till  it  became 
a  mannerism,  a  mere  trick  of  brushwork,  a  studio 
recipe.  Every  one  painted  was  turned  into  a  great 
gentleman  ;  his  hands,  his  face,  his  bearing,  his 
clothes  were  marked  with  a  standard  of  refinement 
which  we  know  from  other  contemporary  por- 
traits was  by  no  means  so  uniformly  attained.  It 
was  perhaps  unconscious  flattery,  but  it  was 
none  the  less  disastrous  to  portrait  painting  both 
in  England  and  on  the  continent.  Before  \'an 
Dyck's  lime  the  most  unprepossessing  sitter  did  not 
expect  his  portrait  to  be  anything  but  truthful  : 
after  Van  Dyck's  time  every  man  expected  to  be 
turned  into  a  great  gentleman,  and  every  woman 


Art  in  America 


into  a  great  lady  ;  and  this  fashion  has  prevailed  so 
consistently  ever  since  that  it  is  only  here  and 
there,  by  the  malice  of  a  caricaturist,  or  by  the 
incompetence  of  a  dullard,  that  we  can  really  guess 
what  our  forefathers  looked  like. 

To  say,  liowever,  that  in  doing  this  Van  Dyck 
neglected  the  true  character  of  his  sitters  and 
marked  only  their  outward  aspect  is  rarely  true. 
His  statement  of  character  is  perhaps  less  obviously 
emphatic  than  that  of  several  other  great  masters — 
his  natural  taste  was  for  balance  rather  than  for 
emphasis — but  it  is  made  none  the  less,  and  often 
with  surprising  force.  Even  Rembrandt  could 
not  do  his  best  with  an  unsympathetic  sitter,  and 
when  we  remember  that  Wan  Dyck  was  continu- 
ously employed  by  the  fashionable  world,  we  must 
also  recognize  that  many,  perhaps  the  majority, 
of  his  sitters  would  be  people  out  of  whom 
Rembrandt  or  Titian,  Velazquez  or  Holbein  would 
not  have  been  able  to  make  more  than  good 
portraits.  A  supreme  portrait  demands  a  fine 
subject  as  well  as  a  great  painter,  and  when  \'an 
Dyck  had  a  fine  subject  he  did  not  fail  to  do  it 
justice.  Portraits  such  as  those  of  Spinola,  or  the 
Man  and  H'//t;  acquired  by  the  Berlin  Museum  from 
the  Peel  collection,*  are  among  the  noblest  things 
of  their  kind,  nor  are  they  immensely  above  the 
a\erage  of  the  Van  Dyck  work.  He  died  young, 
and  for  the  last  five  or  six  years  of  his  life  was  so 
overwhelmed  with  commissions  that  haste,  fatigue 
and  the  help  of  assistants  decreased  the  general 
excellence  of  his  productions,  though  the  falling- 
off  is  not  nearly  so  marked  as  it  is  in  the  analogous 
case  of  Raphael. 

The  oval  portrait  of  Canevaro  recently  purchased 
by  Mr.  Henry  C.  Frick  is  an  excellent  illustration 
of  the  balance  and  moderation  with  which  Van 
Dyck  uses  his  power  in  works  of  moderate  size, 
while  the  great  full-length  figure  of  a  lady'  now  in 
Mr.  Widener's  collection  will  serve  to  show  how 
unsurpassable  he  is  as  a  painter  of  state  portraits. 
The  pride  of  life  in  a  refined  and  luxurious  age 
was  never  more  grandly  set  forth.  The  design 
of  the  picture  speaks  for  itself,  but  the  repro- 
duction can  convey  no  adequate  idea  of  the 
splendid  daring  of  the  colour  scheme.  The  lady's 
dress  is  a  full  dark  green,  with  vivid  scarlet  lace 
at  the  neck  and  wrists,  the  head  being  still 
further  accented  by  the  glowing  rose-coloured 
parasol  set  round  it.  The  dress  of  the  negro  atten- 
dant is  golden  brown  contrasting  well  with  the 
cool  ston(;-work  that  rises  against  the  sky  behind, 
and  the  sky  itself  is  no  ordinary  convention   of 

•■  It  would  be  easy  to  mention  other  examples,  such  as  the 
double  portrait  of  Killigrew  and  Carew,  of  his  later  time,  or  the 
portraits  of  the  Princesse  de  Cante-Croix.  The  sketch  at  Cra- 
cow, known  to  me  only  by  a  photograph,  appears  to  be  even 
lovelier  than  the  finished  versions. 

'  Elena  Grimaldi,  wife  of  Niccolo  Cattaneo  ;  their  two 
children,  Clelia  and  Filippo,  are  the  subjects  of  the  smaller 
portraits. 

316 


deep  blue  or  grey  but  an  expanse  of  sharp  blue 
and  orange  such  as  one  hardly  finds  elsewhere  in 
art  before  the  time  of  Tiepolo.  Of  the  majestic 
sweep  of  the  landscape,^  of  the  delicacy  and  distinc- 
tion of  details,  such  as  the  hands  or  the  sprig  held 
in  one  of  them,  it  is  needless  to  speak :  they 
are  the  work  of  a  master,  but  here  they  are 
trifles  compared  with  the  majestic  structure  of  the 
piece,  a  structure  unique  even  among  Van  Dyck's 
monumental  creations.  The  two  charming  por- 
traits of  children,  and  a  girl  dressed  in  white 
and  gold"  from  the  same  Genoese  palace,  will  illus- 
trate another  side  of  the  painter's  talents,  and  to 
English  readers  will  recall  the  exquisite  groups  of 
the  royal  children  at  Windsor,  one  of  them  still 
more  delightfully  presented  by  the  version  in  the 
Turin  Gallery. 

That  such  portraits,  and  countless  others  in  their 
way  hardly  less  remarkable,  should  have  been 
executed  before  Van  Dyck  was  twenty-seven  years 
old  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  part  of  the  marvel,  at 
least  for  all  who  have  any  conception  of  the  long 
laborious  exertions  by  which  the  science  of  paint- 
ing is  mastered  even  by  those  who  are  fortunate 
alike  in  the  hour,  the  country,  and  the  physical 
and  mental  gifts  of  their  birth. 

If  we  consider  for  one  moment  the  mass  of  por- 
traits painted  by  Van  Dyck  before  his  thirty-fifth 
year,  and  then  compare  them  with  the  output  of 
any  other  portrait  painter  during  a  similar  period, 
be  he  whom  we  will,  the  comparison  will  not  be 
to  Van  Dyck's  disadvantage.  Like  Reynolds 
however,  it  is  only  in  portraiture  that  he  maintains 
this  high  rank.  His  subject  pieces,  superb,  accom- 
plished, and  passionate  as  the  best  of  them  are, 
have  almost  always  something  artificial,  derivative, 
eclectic  in  them  which  prevents  them  from 
carrying  perfect  conviction.  Unlike  Reynolds,  Van 
Dyck  has  possibly  suffered  in  reputation  from  this 
defect.  It  is  difficult  otherwise  to  account  for  the 
comparative  disesteem  in  which  he  is  held,  unless 
it  be  that  painters  have  united  to  praise  Rembrandt 
because  his  style  does  not  compete  with  our  modern 
fashions,  and  Velazquez  because  his  method  seems 
open  to  analysis  and  imitation,  while  we  can  no 
more  imitate  the  splendid,  easy  precision  of  Van 
Dyck  than  we  can  analyze  the  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience that  lie  behind  it.  Van  Dyck  has  succeeded 
in  concealing  his  science  so  perfectly  that  our 
hasty  age  has  failed  to  recognize  its  existence.  If 
there  be  any  truth  in  the  old  proverb — and  in 
painting  at  least  it  seems  to  hold  good-— some 
more  keen-eyed  generation  will  have  to  give  him 
a  higher  rank  even  than  that  which  his 
admirers  claim  for  him  now.       q    j_  Holmes. 

^  In  spite  of  the  unimpeachable  evidence  of  his  water-colour 
drawings,  Van  Dyck  has  not  yet  been  accorded  his  true  rank 
among  the  pioneers  and  the  masters  of  landscape. 

'  We  hope  to  give  a  reproduction  of  this  picture  next  month, 
The  sitter  is  the  Marchesa  Giovanna  Cattaneo. 


'■r ---i^y^H' 


Till-     SWINC,      l;V     WATTl- AT.       IN     THl-     JDNKS 
Coi.l.KCTlclN,    VRTOK'IX     \M>    M.I'.lNl'    MISKIM 


"t    inu  v.:mis   as   ', 
..J I.    Tiic  main  ;  ' 
Kent  of  the 
to  discover  in  wh 


'U^L  u^rii 


i( 


where 

g  ot  the  new  museum  it  is 

'      on   of   the 


tion   It 
;ums  must 


Che 

town   is  itself  a 

•    rather 


otner- 
is  true 


impeiled     the  'ies     to 

ail  wli 


irii  that  in  Florence,  at  k 

on  of  even 
"cceived 

., .    .11  altar- 

trs   way  back  from  the 
cl    for   which   it  was 


of  their    past        ir. 

B  B 


and 
jcums  in  those 

319 


EDITORIAL  ARTICLE 
cA^  MUSEUMS  cAj 


IT  the  recent  International 
Art     Congress     for     the 
I  development      of      draw- 
ling   a    sub-committee 
meeting    was    devoted   to 
^the  question  of  the  position 
of  museums  as   centres   for  education  in 
art.    The  main  idea,  as  developed  by  Mr. 
Kent  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  was 
to  discover  in  what  ways  museums  might 
be  made  more  serviceable  to  those  engaged 
inteachingart  whether  practically  or  theo- 
retically ;  but,  incidentally,  larger  questions 
were  touched  on,  questions  which  suggest 
far-reaching  speculations.      Dr.  Polack,  of 
Strasburg,  went  to  the  root  of  the  question 
of  the  nature  and  purposeof  museums  when 
he  said,  admitting  that  he  was  putting  it 
paradoxically  and  epigrammatically,  that  we 
must  confess  it  would  be  better   for  art  if 
there  were  no  museums.     Better  for   the 
student  if  he  were  always  taken  to  see  the 
object  of  art  amidst  the  surroundings  for 
which  it  was  originally  created,  where  he 
could  realize  the  just  proportions  the  par- 
ticular work  of  art  held  in  relation  to  its 
purpose.  Heshouldseethestatuein  its  niche 
on  the  cathedral  wall,  the  altarpiece  in  the 
chapel  for  which  the  artist  designed  it,  even 
the   bronze  inkstand   or  the   clock  in  the 
palace  for  which  such  articles  of  vertu  were 
originally  made.      Dr.  Polack  went  on  to 
explain   that  our  museums  were  originally 
the    private    collections   of   treasures   and 
curiosities  made   by   princely  houses,  and 
that    these     have    gradually    become    the 
properties   of   the    State  or  municipality. 
They  are  incessantly  growing  by  the  acquisi- 
tion of  fresh   objects  ;    their  trustees   and 
directors  being  impelled  to  this  by  a  natural 
rivalry  with  other  museums  and  as  an  in- 
evitable outcome  of  the  desire  for  classifi- 
cation and  collection.      They  grow  indeed 
by    the  mere    momentum    of  their    past 


movement,  some  of  them  with  more,  and 
some  with  less,  consciousness  of  what  their 
final  form  is  to  be. 

With  the  growth  of  education  and 
interest  in  the  past,  museums  have  come 
continually  to  take  a  more  and  more  pro- 
minent place  in  public  consciousness,  and 
the  time  has  arrived  when  the  question  of 
what  exactly  their  function  is,  and  what 
it  ought  to  be,  must  be  asked  and  solved. 
Boston  must  have  the  honour  of  having 
been  the  first  place  where  this  question 
has  attracted  serious  attention,  and  where 
in  the  building  of  the  new  museum  it  is 
understood  that  a  new  solution  of  the 
problem  is  to  be  exemplified. 

But  before   discussing  that  solution   it 
will  be  well  to  admit  that  museums  must 
fulfil  different  functions  in  different  places. 
In  towns  like  Siena,  where  the  history  ol: 
the  town  is  itself  almost  identical  with  the 
history   of  its    art,  the    town   is   itself  a 
museum,  and  the  museum  becomes  rather 
a  shelter  for  works  of  art  which  have,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  been  uprooted  from 
their  proper  positions,  and  might  other- 
wise be  lost  or  destroyed.    And  this  is  true 
of  the  greater  number  of  the  local  museums 
of  Italy.      But  even  here  the  instinct  for 
growth,    the    desire    for    acquisition,   has 
sometimes     impelled     the    authorities     to 
hoard  in  museums  works  of  art  which  had 
better  have  been  left  even  to  slow  destruc- 
tion in  their  original  surroundings,  and  we 
are  glad  to  learn  that  in  Florence,  at  least, 
the  long  process  of  accumulation  of  even 
fourth  and  fifth-rate  primitives  has  received 
a  check,  and  that  here  and  there  an  altar- 
piece  has   found   its   way   back  from   the 
Uffizi   to    the    chapel    for   which    it  was 
originally  painted,  to  keep  once  more  the 
company  of  the  frescoes  to  which  it  formed 
the  climax.    Here,  then,  is  one  simple  and 
intelligible  function  for  museums  in  those 


The  Burlington  Magazine,  No.  66.    Vol.  XUl— September,  1908. 


B  B 


319 


Museums 

places  where  the  local  history  is  rich  in 
artistic  illustration — namely,  the  careful 
preserving  of  all  the  more  important  works 
of  art  which  are  homeless — and  this  should 
go  hand-in-hand  with  an  equally  careful 
preservation  of  ancient  buildings,  and  of 
such  works  of  art  as  still  remain  in  them, 
wherever  possible  keeping  them  in  situ,  or 
even  returning  others  to  the  place  for 
which  they  were  originally  intended.  In 
such  small  and  isolated  centres  of  art  pro- 
duction as  some  of  the  towns  of  Italy, 
South  Germany  and  the  Netherlands  can 
show,  we  look  to  the  museum  as  the 
central  point  of  an  art-historical  interest 
that  more  or  less  permeates  the  whole 
town  or  district,  and  we  should  not  demand 
of  these  museums  that  they  should  present 
us  with  a  conspectus  of  the  art  history  of 
the  world.  We  do  not  want  an  inadequate 
collection  of  Egyptian  sculpture  at  Siena, 
and  even  if  it  is  amusing  to  come  suddenly 
upon  Altdorfers  among  the  Siennese  tricento 
painters,  one  would  feel  no  loss  if  those 
two  pictures  hung  with  the  others  of  the 
series  at  Nuremberg. 

But  in  the  great  centres  of  civilization, 
in  London,  Paris  and  Berlin — still  more  in 
the  great  cities  of  America  and  our  colonies 
— the  museums  fulfil  quite  other  and  more 
complex  functions.  Even  Paris,  though  it 
has  as  continuous  and  noble  an  art  history 
as  any  other  town,  has  had  such  constant 
relations  with  the  world  at  large  that  it  is 
inevitable  that  its  museums  should  corre- 
spond with  that  cosmopolitan  outlook. 

Such  places,  then,  become,  in  proportion 
to  their  wealth  or  intelligence,  world- 
museums,  where  the  masterpieces  of  all 
periods  and  all  countries  are  preserved  and 
displayed  for  the  more  convenient  appre- 
ciation of  the  greatest  number  of  admirers. 
But  alongside  of  these  masterpieces  of 
universal  application  and  importance  there 
creeps  into  these  museums  a  vast  mass  of 

320 


objects  of  lesser  importance,  and  even  the 
most  skilful  methods  of  arrangement  as  at 
present  understood  may  fail  to  prevent 
these  minor  works  from  confusing  the 
mind  of  the  visitor  and  distracting  an 
attention  that  had  surely  better  have  been 
devoted  singly  to  a  few  objects  of  high 
importance. 

As  at  present  arranged,  our  great 
museums  demand  for  their  proper  use  an 
amount  of  concentration  of  attention,  and 
an  amount  of  knowledge  of  how  to  direct 
that  attention,  that  it  would  be  absurd  to 
demand  of  the  ordinary  spectator.  Who, 
for  example,  even  among  those  who  spend 
their  lives  in  such  studies,  would  dare  to 
predict  what  the  Louvre  might  not  be 
found  to  contain  were  it  once  arranged  so 
as  really  to  exhibit  its  contents  in  a  satis- 
factory manner  ? 

And  what  would  that  satisfactory  manner 
be  ?  Whose  convenience  is  to  be  con- 
sidered most  ?  There  is  the  aesthete  (if 
one  may  use  the  word  once  more  without 
the  associations  it  aroused  in  the  eighties), 
who  wants  the  great  masterpieces  of  every 
kind  arranged  with  the  utmost  perfection 
of  surroundings,  the  most  spacious  and 
restful  setting  possible,  and  who  wants  to 
see  them  under  conditions  of  the  utmost 
physical  comfort  to  himself,  neither  kneel- 
ing on  the  floor  nor  craning  his  neck  to 
the  ceiling.  There  is  the  professional  art 
historian,  who  wants  as  many  objects  as 
possible  of  the  particular  kind  he  is  study- 
ing to  be  grouped  together,  so  that  he  can 
at  least  see  them,  though  whether  com- 
fortably or  agreeably,  or  with  advantage 
to  the  display  of  their  finer  qualities,  is  a 
matter  of  minor  importance. 

There  is  the  teacher,  who  wishes  the 
objects  to  be  arranged  above  all  in  histori- 
cal sequence,  because  it  is  along  the  lines 
of  historical  association  that  it  is  most 
possible  to  arouse  interest  in  the  minds  of 


Museums 


the  young.  Then  there  is  the  designer 
and  craftsman,  who  wishes  to  have  access 
to  a  large  number  of  objects  in  such  a 
way  that  he  can  make  copies  or  notes  of 
the  technical  methods  employed,  and  to 
whom  perhaps  an  object  of  second-rate 
quality  may  be  more  inspiring,  and  there- 
fore more  interesting,  than  a  perfect  master- 
piece. And  finally  there  is  the  grosser 
public  without  either  the  training  or 
the  capacity  for  artistic  or  purely  historic 
interest,  that  wants  to  be  amused.  This 
last  desire  is  but  little  considered  in  the 
older  museums  of  Europe,  but  in  provin- 
cial and  colonial  museums  it  has  hitherto 
been  the  predominant  object.  It  is  best 
supplied  by  the  exhibition  of  pictures  in 
which  a  showy  sentimental  or  melodrama- 
tic motive  is  treated  with  great  illustrative 
skill  and  a  total  disregard  for  art.  In  the 
older  galleries  and  museums  the  absence  of 
these  must  be  made  up  for  by  the  supply 
of  irrelevant  information,  such  as  the 
names  of  distinguished  past  owners,  the 
price  paid,  or  the  time  taken  by  the  artist, 
if  any  of  these  are  in  the  nature  of  the 
marvellous  or  exceptional. 

It  would  not  be  a  matter  for  surprise  if  the 
democracy  were  to  insist  that  at  least  some 
part  of  those  public  funds  to  which  it  con- 
tributes should  be  devoted  to  the  acquisition 
and  exhibition  of  so-called  works  of  art 
which  would  fulfil  this  last-mentioned 
function  ;  but  it  is  highly  desirable  that 
this  kind  of  gallery  or  museum  should 
not  be  confounded  with  museums  which 
subserve  the  other  functions.  Until 
recent  efforts  have  begun  to  turn  the 
Tate  Gallery  into  a  serious  collection  of 
British  art,  that  institution  seemed  almost 
entirely  fitted  for  the  purpose  we  have 
named,  and  its  distance  from  our  older 
museums  was  actually  advantageous.  As 
we  have  noted  in  the  newer  centres  of 
civilization,  in  many  provincial  towns  in 


the  Colonies  and  in  America,  the  demo- 
cracy has  begun  by  imposing  its  crude 
desires,  and  is  only  now  beginning  to  recog- 
nize its  duties  towards  genuine  art  and  art 
history,  and  therefore  in  these  places  no 
such  segregation  of  the  various  functions 
of  the  museum  has,  with  the  notable  ex- 
ception of  Boston,  yet  begun. 

Let  us,  however,  assume  that  ultimately 
the  '  popular '  picture  gallery  is  in  a  separ- 
ate building  or  in  a  distinct  part  of  the 
central  building,  so  that  the  remaining 
functions  of  the  museum,  its  serious  pur- 
poses alone,  have  to  be  considered.  How 
are  the  different  claims  on  the  museum  to 
be  met  ?  They  are  the  aesthetic,  the  art- 
historical  and  the  technical. 

Up  to  a  certain  point  the  aesthetic  and 
the  art-historical  aims  do  not  clash.  It  is 
on  the  whole  better  aesthetically  to  put 
together  those  pictures  or  objects  which 
belong  to  the  same  moment  of  culture, 
which  speak  more  or  less  the  same  language. 
The  aims  clash,  however,  when  we  come 
to  the  question  of  selection  and  acquisition. 
To  the  art  historian  a  great  many  objects 
of  low  artistic  merit  are  of  absorbing 
interest,  and  yet  the  accumulation  of  these 
destroys  that  power  of  spacious  and  easy 
arrangement  which  we  have  postulated 
as  essential  to  full  aesthetic  enjoyment. 
For  the  most  part  the  older  galleries 
recognized  this  difficulty  in  a  vague  half- 
conscious  way  by  the  formation  of  a 
Salon  Carre  or  Tribuna,  where  the  great 
masterpieces  of  various  times  were  sup- 
posed to  be  shown  to  advantage,  while  the 
remaining  rooms  were  arranged  according 
to  the  dictates  of  art  history.  But  in  point 
of  fact  the  arrangement  of  these  distinctly 
aesthetic  galleries  was  itself  so  grossly  un- 
aesthetic  that  the  purpose  was  by  no  means 
apparent,  and  actually  the  modern  Italian 
tendency,  inaugurated  by  Signor  Ricci,  to 
follow  purely  art-historical  lines  has  been 

321 


Museums 

aesthetically  advantageous.      But  one  can- 
not doubt  that  the  last  word  has   not  yet 
been  said  in  the   matter  of  arrangement. 
The  aesthetic  idea,  demanding,  as  we  have 
said,  the  power   of  full   abstraction   from 
surroundings  and  concentration  upon  one 
object  at  a  time,  must  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  small  galleries  will  be  arranged 
with  only  a  very  few — say,  eight  or  ten — 
pictures  in  each,  and  when  the  surround- 
ings will  be   quietly   and    discreetly    har- 
monious, consisting  of  objects  of  art  and 
furniture,  tapestries  and  perhaps  sculpture 
which   are   not  of   a   kind    to  claim  any 
special    attention.       Already     at    Boston, 
above    all    in   the  rooms    devoted   to  the 
Simon  Collection,  great  strides  have  been 
made    in    this    direction.       But    even    in 
the  great  museums  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  works  of  art  would  be  worthy 
of  this  elaborate  exposition.      In   almost 
any     vitrine     at     the     South     Kensington 
Museum,  for   example,  one    might   select 
one  or  two  objects  which  would  gain  im- 
mensely by  isolation,  and  which  at  present 
suffer  from  the   direct  competition  of  in- 
ferior objects  of  a  like  kind.     The  specta- 
tor's powers  are  exhausted   in  making  the 
selection  ;  his  power  of  attention  is  used  up 
by  the  time  he  has  determined  which  object 
he  will  really  look  at  with   concentrated 
appreciative  power. 

It  will  be  evident  then  that  the  com- 
plete acceptance  of  the  aesthetic  ideal  makes 
large  demands  on  the  space  of  the  museum, 
and  that  these  demands  can  only  be 
fulfilled  by  a  concentration  of  the  objects 
not  found  worthy  of  this  elaborate  display. 
The  remainder  of  the  museum  could 
now  be  devoted  unrestrictedly  to  art-his- 
torical and  technical  purposes,  and  it  may 
well  be  that  both  these  pursuits  would 
gain  by  the  change.  It  would  be  necessary 
to   have   rooms  devoted   to  study  on   the 


plan  of  the  British  Museum  Print  Room — 
rooms  where  the  technical  designer  would 
not  only  see,  but  handle,  the  objects  which 
he  could  have    brought  to  him  from  the 
reference  shelves  of  objects  of  art  ;    and 
what  a  gain  this  would  be  every  technical 
designer    knows    well.       Then     the    art- 
historical     and    purely    educational    aims 
might    be    consulted    by    the    constant 
arrangement  of  special  temporary  exhibi- 
tions illustrating  certain   subjects,  such   as 
the    development    of  particular   types    of 
design,  of  costume  or  what  not.     Used 
thus,  a  number  of  objects  that  now  only 
disturb  and  confuse  the  spectator's  mind 
would  become  of  real  value,  and  with  such 
purposes  in  view  a   museum  might  even 
feel   free    to    buy    objects  solely  for    their 
curiosity  or  their  subsidiary  interest.    Thus 
at  present  pictures  are  bought,  or  supposed 
to    be   bought,   solely   on    the   ground  of 
aesthetic  merit ;  but  with  such  a  segregation 
of  functions  as  is  here  indicated  it  would  be 
within  the  competence  of  museum  authori- 
ties to  buy  even  pictures  as  illustrations  of 
other  arts,   of  jewellery,   lace,   armour  or 
costume.    Such  is  to  some  extent  the  ideal 
of  a  museum   first  worked   out  by  a  few 
enthusiastic  officials  at  Boston,  and  to  some- 
thing of  this  nature  it  seems  likely  that  the 
larger  world-museums   must  approximate 
when  they  begin  to  be  fully  conscious  of 
their  purpose  and  position  in  the  modern 
world. 

It  remains  still  a  question  whether, 
when  all  these  desires  have  been  satisfied 
as  far  as  possible,  there  will  not  be  in  some 
museums  a  mass  of  more  or  less  redundant 
material  which  would  be  more  fruitfully 
employed  in  other  museums,  or  even  once 
again  in  private  hands  ;  but  the  specula- 
tions involved  in  this  idea  would  lead  us 
too  far  for  consideration  in  the  present 
article. 


322 


PORTRAIT    OF    MALIBRAN   (rl   ATTKlUrTKU 
TO    INGKKS.      IX   THE   NATIONAL   (iAI.IKRY 


^7? 


THE   FRENXH    SCHOOL    IN   THE    NATIONAL   GALLERY 
PLATE    1 


b-^ 


a. 


2   I 


3  5 


^ THE  FRENCH  SCHOOL  IN 

lEW  if  any  galleries  are  so 
I  complete  as  that  at  TraflU- 
gar  Square,  and  the  absence 
of  any  representative  pic- 
jtures  by  the  continental 
masters  of  the  nineteenth 
century  from  the  walls  of  the  National 
Gallery  had  long  been  among  the  most 
serious  defects  in  that  wonderful  collection. 
The  defect,  moreover,  was  rather  aggravated 
than  otherwise  by  such  few  modern  con- 
tinental pictures  as  we  did  possess,  since 
Rosa  Bonheur's  clever  painting  of  the 
Horse  Fair,  the  "Tilind  Beggar  by  Dyckmans 
and  the  like  had  no  relation  whatever  to 
the  living  schools  of  art  of  their  time. 
Their  removal  was  thus  an  essential  pre- 
liminary to  any  positive  reform,  since  the 
modern  continental  paintings  included  only 
one  work,  a  sound,  unpretentious  little 
landscape,  which  could  be  regarded  as  in 
any  way  deserving  of  a  place  in  a  great 
public  museum.  Now,  thanks  to  the  enter- 
prise of  Sir  Charles  Holroyd,  and  to  the 
generosity  of  certain  private  collectors, 
among  whom  special  mention  must  be 
made  of  Mrs.  Edwin  Edwards,  the  nation 
can  show,  at  least  for  the  time,  a  collection 
of  modern  work  which,  if  far  from 
representative  as  yet,  is  on  the  whole  not 
unworthy  of  a  place  even  in  an  institution 
where  the  general  standard  is  so  high  as 
it  is  at  Trafalgar  Square. 

Of  the  noble  portrait  of  Mr,  and  Mrs. 
Edwin  Edwards,  by  Fantin-Eatour,  pre- 
sented to  the  National  Gallery  in  the  early 
part  of  1905,  we  have  already  spoken.'^ 
None  of  the  later  purchases,  gifts  or  loans 
to  the  French  Section  quite  approach  in 
importance  this  masterpiece  of  portraiture: 
collectively,  however,  they  give  it  the 
setting  which  it  merits   and   enable    us   to 

1  We  have  to  thank  Mr.  George  Salting  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Driicker 
for  their  courteous  permission  to  reproduce  works  in  their 
possession,  and  Mr.  Hanfstaengl  for  the  photographs  used  to 
ilhistrate  the  article. 

^  See  The  Burlington  Mag.vzine  for  March,  1905'  Vol.  vi, 
PP.  492, 495- 


THE  NATIONAL  GALLERY^  ^ 

trace,  with  some  approach  to  continuity, 
the  rise  of  the  modern  feeling  for  land- 
scape in  France  and,  to  a  less  degree,  in 
the  Netherlands. 

Another  valuable  work,  which  ranks 
among  Sir  Charles  Holroyd's  most  felicitous 
purchases.  The  Parade  by  Gabriel  de  St. 
Aubin,  has  been  more  recently*  described 
and  reproduced  in  these  columns.  Through 
the  generosity  of  Lieut. -Colonel  Croft 
Lyons,  this  side  of  French  painting  has  been 
still  further  illustrated  by  La  Main  Chaude 
of  J.  F.  de  Troy,  almost  German  in  the 
precision  of  its  treatment  and  the  even  cool- 
ness of  its  tones,  yet,  from  that  very  even- 
ness, perhaps,  losing  something  of  the  spirit 
and  movement  which  follow  the  lighter 
and  more  broken  touch  perfected  by 
Watteau,  but  not  beyond  the  reach  of 
some  other  clever  men,  as  the  works  by 
Lancret  in  the  next  room  clearly  prove. 

The  sound  portrait  of  Joseph  Duereux 
(2162)  does  something  to  fill  another  con- 
spicuous gap  in  the  national  collection, 
but  interest  has  been  more  generally  aroused 
by  the  two  female  portraits,  attributed  to 
David  and  to  Ingres,  which  form  a  link 
between  the  art  of  the  eighteenth  century 
and  that  of  the  nineteenth. 

The  warmer  and  more  intimate  aspect 
of  David's  talent  has  been  discussed  in  The 
Burlington  Magazine  so  recently  and 
with  so  much  authority  that  it  is  needless 
to  speak  at  length  of  his  power  as  a 
portraitist.  In  the  unfinished  picture 
acquired  by  the  National  Gallery  the  mood 
is  very  different  from  that  underlying  the 
portrait  of  a  boy  which  was  reproduced  in 
the  May  number  of  The  Burlington.*  In 
the  E/isa  Bonaparte,  Grand  Duchess  oj 
Tuscany,  the  note  is  one  of  Roman  force 
and  Roman  rigour,  the  cold  grey-blue  of 
the  landscape  and  the  white  of  the   dress 

3  The  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xiii,  pp.  151,  153  (June, 
1908.) 
•  The  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xiii,  p.  66. 


Z^7 


T'he  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


being  sharply  relieved  by  the  sash  of 
vermilion.  The  very  painting,  too,  lacks 
the  delicate  precision  of  touch,  and  the 
vibrant  quality  in  the  shadov^s,  which  give 
life  and  delicacy  to  Mr.  Claude  Phillips's 
picture  :  the  touch,  indeed,  quite  apart 
from  its  deliberate  rejection  of  movement, 
variety  and  emotion,  displays  an  actual 
insensitiveness  to  the  finer  gradations  of 
form  that  is  just  a  little  disquieting.  The 
heavy  contour  of  the  cheek,  the  modelling 
of  the  face,  the  setting  of  the  head  upon 
the  neck,  and  the  treatment  of  the  hair 
suggest  a  possible  explanation  for  the  un- 
finished state  of  the  picture  on  the  ground 
that  it  failed  to  satisfy  either  the  painter  or 
the  sitter.  It  is  curious,  too,  that  the 
portrait  of  so  important  a  lady  should  have 
been  started  upon  a  canvas  already  used  for 
a  study  of  nude  figures.  Yet  it  can  have 
been  no  bad  likeness,  or  the  Napoleonic 
traitsin  the  features  would  not  have  asserted 
themselves  so  convincingly. 

The  charming  portrait  attributed  to 
David's  great  pupil  Ingres  presents  a  more 
difficult  problem.  The  admirable  draw- 
ing of  the  features  and  the  combination  of 
extreme  precision  with  character  and  spirit 
are  not  unworthy  of  Ingres,  although 
certain  passages,  such  as  the  modelling  of 
the  neck  and  the  clever  Netherlandish 
touch  on  the  white  drapery,  make  it 
necessary  to  assume  that  it  is  a  very  early 
work  by  him,  not  later  than  the  first 
years  of  his  stay  in  Rome.  But  Ingres 
went  to  Rome  in  1806,  two  years  before 
Malibran  was  born.  By  the  year  1833, 
about  which  time,  judging  from  the  sitter's 
age  and  from  the  fashion  of  her  dress,  this 
picture  must  have  been  painted,  Ingres 
was  at  the  zenith  of  his  power,  and  had 
produced  some  of  his  most  grand  and 
masterly  portraits.  It  would  therefore 
seem  as  if  we  should  either  have  to  give 
up  the  name  of  Ingres  or  that  of  Malibran 

328 


in  connexion  with  this  most  able  and  at- 
tractive little  picture.  If  the  name  of 
Malibran  be  retained  (and  the  likeness  to 
her,  as  we  shall  see,  is  very  strong)  it  is 
possible  that  the  painting  may  be  by  the 
most  renowned  of  Ingres's  pupils.  Hippolyte 
Flandrin,  after  winning  the  Prix  de  Rome, 
reached  Italy  in  1833,  where  he  became 
the  close  friend  of  Ambroise  Thomas,  the 
famous  composer.  It  is  thus  not  only 
possible,  but  probable,  that  Flandrin,  in 
company  with  the  musician,  should  have 
met  the  gifted  prima-donna  during  her 
triumphant  tours  in  Italy  with  De  Beriot  ; 
and  if  we  suppose  this  little  portrait  to  have 
been  a  memento  of  the  meeting,  the  date, 
the  dress,  the  sitter,  the  inexperience  in 
certain  passages  and  the  overwhelming  in- 
fluence of  the  manner  and  spirit  of  Ingres 
can  be  completely  reconciled. 5 

That  the  portrait  is  that  of  Malibran, 
and  no  other,  seems  almost  certain  when 
comparison  is  made  with  a  painting 
recently  exhibited  in  Paris  at  the  Exposition 
Theatrale.  To  that  interesting  collection 
M.  J.  Samson  lent  a  portrait  of  Malibran 
(No.  489),  painted  at  Milan  in  1834  by 
Pedrazzi,  president  of  the  Milanese 
Academy  of  Painting.  Here  Malibran  is 
represented  as  Desdemona,  and  the  portrait 
is  stated  (on  what  authority  the  catalogue 
does  not  say)  to  be  the  only  one  for  which 
she  ever  sat.  Even  the  little  reproduction 
of  this  portrait  in  thc'Catalogue  of  the 
Exhibition  shows  a  startling  likeness  to  the 
sitter  of  the  National  Gallery  painting. 
The  placing  of  the  features  is  the  same, 
the  contour  of  the  cheek  is  the  same 
(though  the  cheek  is  slightly  thinner  in 
the  Milanese  portrait  and  the  mouth 
looks  older),  the  sly  humour  of  the  eyes  is 

»  A  critic  of  exceptional  authority  upon  the  practical  part  of 
painting  considers  that  the  treatment  of  the  portrait  is  indubit- 
ably German,  the  smooth  and  rather  petty  handling  of  the 
drapery  being,  in  his  opinion,  specially  characteristic  oi  German 
work  of  the  time. — Ed. 


MARSH    AT    ARI.1%IX    llL     NOKU,    liV    CDl-JllT.       BEQIKA  I'H  Kl>    To 
THE        NATldXAL       (iALI.KUY       BY       MICS.       KDWIX        EDWAR'DS 


N<J()N-,    BY    CliKOT.       I  I  N'T   To    TlllC    NATIOXAI 
GALLERY    BY    MR.    G1;<iRi;K    SALTING 


3 


A 


THK     FRKNCH    SCHOOL   IN    THE    NATIONAL    GALLERY 
PLATE    Ml 


^'* 


X 


<   < 


•■    c 


The  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


unmistakable,  and  the  peculiar  form  of  the 
tip  of  the  nose  and  nostril  is  identical. 

This  attractive  portrait,  uncertain  at  the 
moment  as  its  origin  must  be,  is  of  some 
historical    significance    to    the  gallery   in 
that  it  must  be  regarded  as  the  single  link, 
connecting  the  French    tradition    of   the 
eighteenth  century  with  the  Romanticism 
of  the  nineteenth.     Only  two  months  ago 
The  Burlington   Magazine   contained  a 
reproduction  of  Gericault's  Passage  of  the 
RaVine^   In  the  note  describing  the  picture 
it  was  indicated  how  important  a  link  that 
short-lived  artist  forms  between  two  great 
periods  of  aesthetic  activity.     It  is  thus  a 
matter  of  no  small  regret  that  at  present 
the  authorities  of  the  National  Gallery  have 
been    unable   to   establish    historical    con- 
nexion   by   acquiring     any   representative 
specimen  either  of   Gros,  with  whom  the 
change  began,  or  of  Gericault,  by  whom 
it  was  continued,  not  to  speak  of  Delacroix, 
by  whom  it  was  consummated.      Outside 
France,  of  course,  paintings  by  these  three 
masters  are  somewhat  rare,  and  in  the  case 
of  Delacroix  it  might  be  urged  with  some 
point  that  there  was  less  reason  for  exertion 
than  in  the  case  of  the  other   two.      Not 
only  are   Delacroix's  studies  and  pictures 
fairly  numerous,  though  perfect  examples 
are   perhaps   hard   to    find,   but    we    have 
already    at   Hertford   House    one    of    his 
acknowledged  masterpieces.     If  the  Wal- 
lace Collection  is  to  be  regarded,  as  many 
are  apt  to  regard  it,  as  a  kind  of  supplement 
to  the  National  Gallery  (and,  indeed,  if  wc 
are  to  consider  our  national  representation 
of  French  art  with  any  complacency  we 
must  so  regard  it),  we  may  be  content  for 
the  moment  with  leaving  a  very  great  and 
important  master  like  Delacroix  unrepre- 
sented at  Trafalgar  Square. 

At  the  risk  of  seeming  to  depart  from 
strict   historical  sequence,   we    must   also 

"  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xiii,  pp.  i88,  209  (July,  igo8.) 


express  a  regret  that  so  far  no  example  of 
the  genius  of  Daumier  has  been  added  to 
the  gallery,  either  by  loan  or  purchase.    In 
England  Daumier's  time  has  not  yet  come. 
We  are  still  inclined  to  look  upon   him  as 
little  more  than  a  caricaturist  or  a  satirist 
who  from  time  to  time  amused  himself  by 
making  brilliant  sketches  in  oil.      When, 
however,  the  great  figures  of  the  nineteenth 
century  recede  from  us  with   the  progress 
of  time,    they    begin    to    appear    in    true 
perspective,  and  as  they  do  so  the  seem- 
ingly slight  and  arbitrary  art  of  Daumier 
rises  higher  and   higher  on   the  horizon. 
Nowhere  in   the  whole  art  of  Europe  is 
there  any  figure  which  can  be  compared 
with   him   in    the  absolute  decision  with 
which   he   separates    the   elements   of   his 
subject     that     are     pictorially     expressive 
from    those    that    are    merely   accessories. 
Even  his  great  forerunner^  Rembrandt,  is 
less  audacious  ;   even  his  greatest  follower. 
Millet,  makes  more  concession  to  public 
liking  for  sentiment  and  prettiness. 

Those  two  words  show  at  once  why 
Daumier  is  underrated  in  England.  As 
a  nation  we  have  a  reputation  for  duplicity 
because  other  nations  do  not  understand 
that  we  are  essentially  sentimental  ;  in  art 
we  have  produced  a  certain  number  of 
great  masters  as  a  natural  reaction  from 
our  general  tendency  to  adore  prettiness. 
Our  misunderstanding  of  Daumier  is  thus 
natural.  It  is  also  deplorable,  because 
important  works  in  oil  by  Daumier  have 
long  been  rare  and  arc  now  almost  unob- 
tainable. Nor  can  the  fact  that  England 
possesses  hardly  any  of  them  be  ascribed 
to  bad  luck.  For  some  years  one  of  his 
supreme  masterpieces,  a  subject  from  '  Don 
Quixote,'  was  on  exhibition  at  a  London 
gallery  and  for  sale  at  an  inconsiderable 
price.  It  was  offered  in  turn  to  every 
collector  in  the  country,  and  at  last,  as 
such  a  stern  and  forceful  design  was  bound 

333 


The  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


to  do,  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
Berhn  Museum.  It  is  impossible  that 
such  an  opportunity  can  recur,  and 
whatever  subsequent  additions  the  French 
section  of  the  National  Gallery  may 
receive,  our  disdain  of  such  an  example 
of  one  who  was  perhaps  the  most  important 
force  in  France  during  the  whole  century, 
not  excepting  even  the  great  Puvis  de 
Chavannes,  is  irreparable. 

When  we  come  to  the  so  -  called 
'  Romantics,'  the  men  of  1830,  the  gallery 
is  more  fortunate,  though  even  here  there 
are  some  gaps  still  to  be  filled.  The  two 
little  pictures  by  Isabey  may  first  be  dis- 
cussed, as  they  illustrate  not  unfairly  the 
course  which  the  movement  took  in  the 
case  of  the  smaller  men.  If  we  compare 
the  clever  Fish  Market  at  Dieppe  of  1845 
with  Grandfather  s  "Birthday  of  1866,  we 
shall  see  how  in  twenty  years  the  art  which 
in  its  earlier  phase  was  at  least  fresh  and 
effective,  though  essentially  slight  and 
theatrical  in  treatment,  descended  to  mere 
common  picture-making,  as  trivial  and 
much  less  capable  than  the  formal  genre 
painting  of  the  eighteenth  century  on 
which  it  was  supposed  to  be  an  improve- 
ment. Isabey,  of  course,  has  a  certain 
place  in  art  as  the  principal  descendant  of 
Bonington,  but  the  place  is  not  a  high  one, 
and  his  later  work  certainly  does  not 
deserve  wall-space  in  any  collection  where 
the  standard  is  so  high  as  it  is  in  the 
National  Gallery. 

The  examples  of  Corot  lent  to  the 
gallery  by  its  generous  supporter,  Mr. 
George  Salting,  together  with  the  poetical 
oil  study  bequeathed  by  Mrs.  Edwin 
Edwards,  go  far  to  represent  this  charming 
master  as  well  as  even  our  gallery  ought 
to  represent  him.  This  indeed  would  be 
the  case  were  they  supplemented  by  a 
single  typical  example  of  his  early  style,  of 
that   cool,   rigid    precision    in   which    his 

334 


contemporaries  were  unable  to  see  any 
merit,  but  which  now  appears  to  us  as  by 
no  means  an  unworthy  foundation  for  the 
more  fluent  and  mysterious  treatment  of 
landscape  which  he  invented  in  later  life. 

Of  the  two  smaller  examples  of  Corot's 
work  lent  by  Mr.  George  Salting,  one, 
Eyiening  on  the  Lake,  has  already  been  de- 
scribed and  illustrated  in  this  magazine.^ 

The   second,  Noon,   might  well  be   re- 
garded as  a  companion   picture.      It   has 
the  same  freshness,  the  same  spontaneous 
quality,  although  it  is  pitched  in  a  different 
key    of   colour  and  represents  the  warm 
shimmer  of  mid-day  instead  of  a  cool  twi- 
light.     The  material  of  this  little  study  is 
no  more  than  the  material  of  many  a  study 
by  Rembrandt  :   a  level  plain,  a  clump  of 
trees,  a  cart  and  horse  in  the  foreground, 
and  a  sunlit  plain  in  the  middle  distance. 
These  are  all  the  materials  Corot  has  used, 
yet  by  extracting  from  each  just  precisely 
that  quality  which  suits  the  mood  of  the 
picture,  he  has  attained  a  unity  of  tech- 
nique as  well  as  a  unity  of  sentiment  com- 
parable wdth   that  which  we  find  in   the 
work   of  the  great   Dutchman.      If,   in  a 
sense,    his    appreciation    of    the    fibrous, 
woody  quality  of  the  trees,  of  the  fierce 
glow  of  the  sunlight  on  white  walls  and 
distant  levels,  of  the  material  construction 
of  a  cart,  or  the  anatomical  structure  of 
the  horse  that  draws  it,  and  of  the  model- 
ling   and    solidity    of   the    ground  is  less 
incisive  than  that  of  his  predecessor,  he 
might  claim  to  have  done  in  his  own  way 
something  which  his  predecessor  avoided, 
in  that  he  has  steeped  his  sketch  in  light 
and  colour,  whereas  Rembrandt  produced 
his  effects  by  means  of  light  alone.   Those, 
too,  who  can  follow  the  technical  part  of 
the    painter's    work    cannot    fail    to   take 
pleasure  in  the  simplicity  and  directness  of 
the  brushwork  whereby  this  whole  panel 

'  Burlington  Magazine,  Vol.  xi,  p.  226  Uuly.  iQO;)- 


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SIXNY    PAYS  IN'  THE   FOIJEST,    HY  DIAZ.        LENT    TO 
THE   XATIDN.M.   (i.M.I.KKY   IIV    MK.    i;E<ll<l>K    SAI.TlNi; 


THE      STOKM.      liY        UIAZ,       LENT        TO       THE 
NATIONAL   GALLEKY   BY   MK.    GEOU'GE     SALTING 


THE    FRENCH   SCHOOL   IN    THE   NATIO.NAL   GALLERY 
PLATE   VI 


The  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


of  delicately  adjusted  tones  seems  to  have 
come  into  being  within  the  space  of  a 
single  hour,  without  one  moment's  hesita- 
tion or  re-touching. 

Even  more  of  the  freedom  of  a  momen- 
tary sketch  is  seen  in  the  view  of  a  Marsh 
at  Arkux  du  Nord  bequeathed  by  Mrs. 
Edwin  Edwards.  This,  too,  is  exceptional 
in  Corot's  work.  His  spirit  is  rarely 
moved  by  such  a  grim  and  cheerless  land- 
scape as  this  marsh  presents,  with  its  wind- 
blown reeds,  its  ruffled  water,  scanty  trees, 
and  cheerless,  rainy  sky.  It  is,  indeed,  a 
kind  of  subject  which  we  are  apt  to  asso- 
ciate rather  with  Constable,  but  if  we 
imagine  it  for  a  moment  placed  among 
a  collection  of  Constable's  sketches,  such  as 
that  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum, 
we  shall  be  able  to  see  immediately  where 
the  difference  between  the  two  men  lies. 
In  Constable's  work  we  should  surely  find 
the  dramatic  note  more  forced  ;  the  con- 
trasts of  tone  would  be  stronger  ;  the 
handling  would  be  more  restless  and 
broken  ;  the  colour,  too,  would  probably 
be  sharper.  Corot,  even  in  the  presence 
of  a  dramatic  natural  fact,  retains  some- 
thing of  the  balance  and  moderation 
proper  to  his  Latin  blood.  In  consequence, 
his  statement  is  more  restrained  than  that 
of  the  Englishman.  His  contrasts  of  tone 
are  quieter,  his  handling  more  modest. 
True,  in  the  hasty  scratches  in  the  fore- 
ground, made  apparently  with  the  handle 
of  his  brush,  we  seem  to  have  a  trace  ot 
unusual  excitement,  although  the  rapid 
scribbled  line  gives  just  that  element  of 
spontaneity  and  emphasis  to  the  sketch 
which  it  might  otherwise  seem  to  lack 
from  its  cool,  studied  temperance. 

In  the  two  larger  canvases  lent  to  the 
gallery  by  Mr,  Salting,  The  Bent  Tree  and 
The  Wood  Gatherer^  Corot  appears  in  his 
most  characteristic  and  central  manner, 
that  of  the  student  of   Claude.      In    The 


Wood  Gatherer  the  resemblance  to  Claude 
is  specially  strong,  and  those  who  have 
some  acquaintance  with  the  work  of  the 
older  landscape  painter  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  seeing  how  his  opposition  of 
green-grey  trees  to  grey-blue  sky  and  dis- 
tance has  been  translated  by  Corot  into 
terms  of  modern  paint.  So  far,  indeed, 
does  the  resemblance  go  that  it  is  difficult 
to  feel  in  the  presence  of  these  mature 
works  of  Corot  that  the  scenery  repre- 
sented is  that  of  France.  Surely  only  in 
Italy,  and  in  the  Italy  of  Claude,  does  the 
sunlight  fall  just  so  upon  white  walls  and 
stately  ruins  crowning  far-away  hills.  In 
vain  do  we  attempt  to  connect  these  charm- 
ing willows  and  birches,  these  stretches  of 
purely  northern  undergrowth,  with  any 
real  country  of  the  north.  The  atmosphere 
that  surrounds  them,  the  very  forms  and 
masses  they  assume  inside  the  frame  recall 
an  older  art  which  is  invariably  associated 
with  Italy,  and  we  can  less  easily  think  of 
Corot  as  an  original  master  than  as  a  re- 
incarnation of  Claude,  not  perhaps  Claude 
the  painter  of  elaborate  classical  com- 
position, but  rather  the  Claude  of  a 
thousand  exquisite  studies  in  sepia,  which, 
in  their  delicacy,  their  freedom,  their  de- 
light in  wide  expanses  of  light  and  air,  have 
been  equalled  and  surpassed  only  by  the 
similar  drawings  of  Rembrandt. 

The  composition  of  The  'Bent  Tree  con- 
tains a  motive  which  was  a  favourite  one 
with  Corot  ;  but  all  who  have  examined 
such  a  series  of  Claude  drawings  as  that  at 
the  British  Museum  will  see  that  the 
motive  is  just  such  a  one  as  we  might  have 
found  there,  and  that  this  cool,  accom- 
plished picture  is,  so  far  as  its  ultimate 
invention  is  concerned,  no  more  than 
what  a  fortunate  study  of  Claude  might 
become  if  interpreted  by  a  gifted  painter. 
Yet  such  a  judgment  would  not  be  wholly 
fair    to    Corot.       The    simplicity    which 


cc 


339 


The  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


Claude  attained  only  in  his  sketches  is 
more  apparent  than  real,  and  those  who 
have  practised  the  art  of  painting  with 
any  intelligence  agree  in  recognizing  that 
it  is  not  the  first  word  of  art,  but  the  last. 
It  is  the  result  not  of  imperfect  statement 
but  of  most  perfect  omission,  and  Corot's 
eminence  among  the  landscape  painters  of 
the  nineteenth  century  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  among  them  all  has  known  most 
consistently  what  a  good  painter  ought  to 
omit.  His  art  might  not  unfairly  be 
described  as  the  essence  of  landscape,  rather 
than  as  landscape  itself  ;  and  we  do  not 
come  to  the  essence  until  we  have  gathered 
the  flowers  from  which  the  essence  is 
distilled. 

While  Corot  is  thus  fortunately  repre- 
sented, Theodore  Rousseau,  his  great 
contemporary,  still  awaits  the  honour  of 
being  illustrated,  even  by  a  single  picture  ; 
and  Daubigny,  to  many  perhaps  the  most 
uniformly  sincere  and  delightful  of  the 
Romantic  landscape  painters,  is,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  unlucky.  The  Willo'^s  and 
Fishermen  attributed  to  him  shows  none  of 
his  usual  taste  in  design  nor  his  usual 
charm  of  colour,  nor  his  light,  caressing 
touch.  Yet  fine  works  by  Daubigny  are 
still  not  unfrequently  seen,  so  there  is  no 
reason  to  be  anxious  because  the  first 
example  of  him  which  has  been  hung 
in  the  National  Gallery  does  not  illustrate 
his  genius  to  the  extent  his  admirers  could 
wish. 

Diaz,  as  a  rule  a  much  inferior 
artist,  shows  to  much  greater  advantage. 
Not  only  is  he  represented  by  two  works 
instead  of  one,  but  both  the  paintings  are 
above  his  common  average.  The  earlier 
of  the  two,  Sunny  Days  in  the  Forest,  pre- 
sented to  the  gallery  two  years  ago  by  the 
executors  of  Mr.  Charles  Hartree,  may 
not  be  a  very  powerful  picture,  but  it  is 
undeniably  a  pleasant  one,  straightforward 

34° 


in  plan,  harmonious  in  colour,  and  steeped 
in  sunht  air.  It  has  the  merit  of  being 
executed  with  more  taste  and  precision 
of  touch  than  were  usually  granted  to  an 
artist  whose  reputation  is  certainly  greater 
than  most  of  the  works  that  have  come 
from  his  hand  would  really  warrant.  The 
larger  picture  of  The  Storm,  lent  by  Mr. 
Salting,  stands  still  higher  above  the 
general  average  of  the  man's  work.  Though 
somewhat  scattered  in  the  disposition  of 
its  masses,  and  perhaps  a  little  theatrical 
in  its  forcing  of  abrupt  contrasts  of  light 
and  shade,  its  paint  is  more  fused  and  its 
colour  more  free  from  meretricious  spots 
and  spangles  than  in  the  majority  of  the 
works  of  Diaz,  and  one  might  think  that 
for  the  moment  something  of  the  sterner 
spirit  of  Rousseau  or  Courbet  had  inspired 
one  whose  normal  mood  verges  upon  the 
trivial.  In  no  other  picture  with  which 
we  are  acquainted  does  Diaz  come  so  near 
to  being  on  a  level  with  the  greater 
masters  of  the  school  with  whom  his  name 
will  always  be  associated. 

From  these  masters,  who  forma  definite 
part  of  the  group  of  Romantics,  we  must 
pass  to  that  admirable  artist  Fantin-Latour, 
and  to  Boudin,  the  Havre  sea-painter.  Of 
how  many  famous  names  does  that  passage 
involve  the  omission  !  We  might,  perhaps, 
spare  the  great  Salon  successes  of  the  past 
century,  even  if  doing  so  involved  the 
sacrifice  of  such  notable  names  as  those  of 
Alfred  Stevens,  of  Ricard,  of  Paul  Baudry. 
But  just  as  in  the  earlier  section  we 
have  no  example  of  Prudhon,  so  in  this 
later  we  have  none  of  Rousseau,  or  Millet, 
or  Courbet,  or  any  of  the  great  Impres- 
sionists, of  Chasseriau  or  of  Puvis  de 
Chavannes. 

Apparently,  the  lighter  side  of  French 
art  in  the  nineteenth  century  has  alone 
been  considered  by  the  authorities.  The 
graver  and  more  serious  side  of  the  nation's 


o 

s 


tim 


^' 


The  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


achievement  during  that  period  is  repre- 
sented only  by  the  noble  Portrait  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Edwin  Edvoards,  a  gift  and  not  a 
purchase.  Were  it  not  for  the  existence 
of  several  life-size  portraits  of  the  same 
gravity  and  completeness,  Fantin-Latour 
would  perhaps  have  to  rank  among  the  best 
masters  of  genre.  His  poetic  little  figure 
compositions,  in  spite  of  their  singular 
charm  of  colour  and  fanciful  design,  with 
his  more  dramatic  lithographs,  do  not  in 
reality  rise  to  the  heights  reached  by  the 
great  creative  artists,  and  so  it  would  be 
on  the  admirable  still-life  pieces  which 
form  the  bulk  of  his  work  that  his  fame 
would  chiefly  rest. 

No  example  of  his  imaginative  figure 
work  has  yet  found  its  way  to  Trafalgar 
Square,  but  his  still-life  painting  is  repre- 
sented by  two  pictures,  one  a  small  study 
of  Apples,  the  other  a  delightful  group  of 
Roses  which,  like  the  large  portrait,  the 
gallery  owes  to  the  generosity  of  Mrs. 
Edwin  Edwards.  Painted  in  1864,  this 
little  canvas  represents  Fantin's  power  and 
taste  at  their  best.  The  picture  is  full  of 
light  and  colour.  Its  luminous  character 
is  emphasized  by  the  adroit  scraping  of 
the  background,  while  the  whites  are 
flushed  with  pale  tints  of  daffodil  yellow 
and  rose,  and  contrasted  with  touches  of 
definite  pink,  sprays  of  pale  blue,  and 
fresh  green  leaves.  As  the  reproduction 
will  show,  the  fragile  complexity  of  the 
blooms  is  also  most  delightfully  suggested, 
so  that  altogether  this  little  canvas  is  in  its 
degree  a  masterpiece. 

The  cool  and  airy  harbour  scene  by 
Boudin  presented  by  the  National  Art 
Collections  Fund  closes  the  series,  so  far  as 
France  proper  is  concerned  ;  but  else- 
where in  the  gallery  a  loan  from  Mr.  J.  C. 
Driicker  of  a  group  of  examples  of  the 
modern  Dutch  artists,  who  owe  much  to 
Paris  training,  may  be  said  to  continue  the 


line  of  succession.  The  brilliant  little 
specimen  of  James  Maris,  which  by  the 
owner's  courtesy  we  are  permitted  to  re- 
produce, shows  that  painter  to  unusual 
advantage.  His  work  is  more  matter-of- 
fict  than  that  of  his  gifted  brother 
Matthew,  less  genuinely  sincere  than  that 
of  his  French  predecessors.  Its  temper  is 
rather  that  of  the  older  school  of  Dutch 
painters,  one  of  consistent  good  sense, 
balance  and  sound  workmanship,  but  a 
temper  that  avoids  the  risk  of  experiment 
in  new  fields,  or  of  too  emphatic  statement. 
To  that  avoidance  of  risk  James  Maris 
owes  no  doubt  much  of  his  worldly  success. 
He  can  always  be  depended  upon  to  supply 
a  sound  picture,  just  as  good  as  scores 
which  he  has  painted  before  ;  but  by  that 
very  reliability  he  is  excluded  from  the 
ranks  of  the  greater  artists,  whose  experi- 
ments, even  when  they  fail,  are  more  in- 
teresting and  more  stimulating  than  other 
men's  successes. 

In  reviewing  once  again  the  whole 
question  of  the  French  school  at  the 
National  Gallery,  it  is  evident  that  Sir 
Charles  Holroyd  has  a  great  and  difficult 
task  before  hirn,  if  he  is  ever  to  place  it  on 
anything  like  an  equality  with  the  other 
schools  now  represented  there.  One  or 
.  two  purchases  of  the  older  masters  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  such  as  the  sound 
painting  of  a  group  of  musicians  attributed 
to  Rigaud,  do  much  to  fill  the  room  de- 
voted to  earlier  work,  while  the  collection 
at  Hertford  House  covers  most  of  this 
ground  so  fully  that  there  is  no  pressing 
need  to  cover  it  a  second  time  until  more 
glaring  lacunae  are  filled. 

But  when  once  we  come  to  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  Hertford  House 
ceases  to  be  so  helpful.  Though  the 
French  pictures  of  the  nineteenth  century 
are  numerous  there,  and  the  catalogue  in- 
cludes    many     well-known     names,    only 

343 


The  French  School  in  the  National  Gallery 


Delacroix  is  so  well  shown  that  there  is  no 
pressing  need  for  any  further  representa- 
tion of  him  at  Trafalgar  Square.  The 
taste  which  formed  the  Wallace  Collection, 
though  admirable  in  many  ways,  inclined 
always  to  the  lighter  side  of  art.  Gaiety, 
sentiment,  sparkle,  prettiness :  these  we 
find  everywhere,  but  rarely  or  never  do 
we  receive  a  hint  that  nineteenth -century 
France  gave  birth  to  some  of  the  gravest 
and  most  majestic  among  the  artists  of 
Europe.  When  time  has  sifted  the  wheat 
from  the  chaff,  these  solemn  and  powerful 
figures  will  assume  their  proper  promi- 
nence. In  the  lonides  collection  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  they  are  re- 
presented, with  the  exception  perhaps  of 
Courbet,  chiefly  or  entirely  by  sketches  or 
unimportant  canvases.  At  Hertford  House, 
with  the  single  exception  of  Delacroix, 
they  fare  even  worse. 

We  still  need  typical  works  by  Gros  and 
by  Gericault  to  establish  connexion  with 
the  eighteenth  century.  We  still  need  a 
first-rate  example  of  Ingres — which,  owing 
to  his  high  market  value,  will  be  an 
almost  impossible  thing  to  find — and  a 
fine  Chasseriau  too,  though  that  for  the 
moment  is  practically  hopeless.  Daumier 
is  indispensable  ;  so  is  Theodore  Rous- 
seau ;  so  is  Millet.  Then  Manet,  Monet, 
Degas  and  their  companions  call  for  notice, 
and  we  ought  possibly  to  include  Alfred 
Stevens  and  one  or  two  picked  examples 
of  portraiture.  These  acquisitions  may  be 
made  in  course  of  time,  but  the  case  of 
Puvis  de  Chavannes  is  more  critical.  His 
easel  pictures,  never  numerous,  are  now 
absorbed  almost  beyond  hope  of  recovery. 


One  of  the  very  last  was  seized  by  Mr. 
Lane  for  Dublin  ;  another  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  a  well-known  English  artist ; 
a  third,  the  early  and  not  very  typical 
Beheading  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.,  is  at  this 
moment  on  view  in  the  Franco-British 
Exhibition.  From  what  source  is  the 
nation  to  procure  a  representative  work 
of  this  very  great  master  ? 

This  hasty  and  imperfect  list  is  sufficient 
to  show  what  a  task  lies  before  Sir  Charles 
Holroyd  and  the  trustees  in  their  endea- 
vour to  strengthen  the  gallery  at  its  weakest 
point.      It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  setting 
about  this  important  undertaking  they  will 
keep  in  mind  the  necessity  of  sacrificing 
much  to  get  really  essential  things  and  no 
others.     The  space  at  the  disposal  of  the 
gallery  is  limited,  and  to  crowd  it  either 
with  works  of  the  second  order,  or  with 
works  by  good  men  who  happen  to  be  still 
better  represented  in  some  other  London 
collection,  would    be    a    mistaken    policy. 
One  such  essential  masterpiece  the  gallery 
acquired  by  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Edwin 
Edwards.      At  the  moment,  by  the  gene- 
rosity of  a  great  private  collector,  it  houses 
several  others.     We  earnestly  trust  that  in 
completing  what  has  been  so  fortunately 
started,  the  authorities  will  keep  in  mind 
the  necessity  of  restricting  their  purchases 
to     first-class    painters    and    to    first-class 
examples    of   them,  for    in  dealing  with 
comparatively    modern     work    that    bold 
patronage    is    the   only    road   to   security. 
American  collectors  have  been  so  successful 
in  this  field  that  we  have  a  hopeful  augury 
for    the    future   of  the  National  Gallery, 
now  that  a  real  beginning  has  been  made. 


344 


A  WATTEAU   IN  THE  JONES  COLLECTION 
^  BY  CLAUDE  PHILLIPS  c*^ 


HE  heading  of  this  note 
will  doubtless  in  itself  cause 
some  surprise.  No  paint- 
ing of  the  French  school 
among  those  which,  as  an 
accompaniment  to  the  fur- 
niture, porcelain,  and  objects 

of   art,  are   arranged   in    the 

gallery  specially  set  aside  at  South  Kensington  for 
the  exhibition  of  the  Jones  collection,  is  ascribed 
to  the  greatest  of  the  'small  masters.'  We  have 
there,  ranged  on  the  line,  the  Madame  dc  Pompa- 
dour of  Boucher,  an  original  version  of  which 
exists  also  in  the  collection  of  Baroness  Alphonse 
de  Rothschild ;  La  Surprise,  one  of  the  best 
authenticated  and  most  characteristic  works  of 
Jean-P'ran^ois  de  Troy,  in  the  style  deliberately 
adapted  by  him  from  the  painters  oi  fetes  galaiites  ; 
and  then  a  typical  though  not  quite  first-rate  Pater. 
Side  by  side  with  these  pieces  hangs  a  painting, 
L'Escarf)oIette  or  The  Sn'iiig,  which  is  modestly 
ascribed  to  the  French  school  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  And  to  this  canvas,  so  excellently 
reproduced  here  that  a  detailed  description,  at 
any  rate  as  regards  subject  and  central  motive, 
becomes  unnecessary,  students  of  the  period — 
myself  included — have  hitherto  paid  too  little 
attention.  It  bears  the  number  121,  and  its  sight 
measurements  are  :  height  2  ft.  3I  in.,  and  length 
2  ft.  I  have  many  a  time  passed  it  by,  or  glanced 
at  it  with  indifference,  deriving  from  a  too  hasty 
inspection  the  impression  that  it  nearly  resembled 
the  paiinean  decoratif,  or,  as  we  should  call  it, 
decorative  canvas,  of  Lancret,  as  we  see  it  in 
numerous  examples  in  the  eighteenth-century 
gallery  of  the  Louvre  and  elsewhere. 

Passing  on  to  this  picture  one  day  from  the  Pater, 
the  De  Troy,  and  the  Boucher,  I  suddenly  derived 
the  impression  that  here  was  a  canvas  which,  not- 
withstanding its  extreme  simplicity  of  motive,  its 
unpretentious  aspect,  somehow  made  the  Pater 
look  rather  futile,  the  De  Troy  rather  dry  and 
harsh — made  the  Boucher,  too,  notwithstanding 
the  sheen  of  the  Pompadour's  exquisitely  fashioned 
white-satin  robe  and  the  pearly  delicacy  of  the 
flesh-tints,  appear  somewhat  crude  and  artificial, 
in  its  forced  contrast  between  the  figure  and  the 
landscape  background.  In  the  Escarpolette  the 
depth  and  gradation  of  the  atmospheric  environ- 
ment is  far  more  truly  observed  and  rendered  ; 
the  figures  take  their  natural  place  in  it,  and  we 
have  not  merely  personages  standing  out  against 
a  landscape,  but  a  scene  duly  furnished  with 
figures  which  form  an  integral  part  of  it  and  fall 
naturally  into  their  proper  places.  The  sky  melts 
insensibly  from  pale  gold  to  faint  rose,  much  as 
it  does  in  the  Louvre  version  of  L'Embarqiicment 
pour  Cythere;  the  decorative  treatment  of  the 
branching   trees   and   the  loosely  handled   fore- 


ground is  Watteau's  own.  It  is,  indeed,  very 
similar  to  that  which  we  find  not  only  in  the  master- 
piece which  is  nominally  only  the  sketch  for  the 
more  carefully  elaborated  Embarqucmenf  in  the 
Royal  Palace  at  Berlin,  but  in  L'Aiiiour  Paisiblc 
(otherwise  L'Auiour  a  la  Campagne)  and  many 
other  typical  pieces  both  of  the  earlier  and  the 
later  time.  The  closer  the  examination  of  the 
picture,  the  more  the  conviction  grows  that  we 
have  here  a  genuine  VVatteau,  painted,  judging  by 
its  technical  peculiarities,  somewhere  between  1715 
and  1720. 

The  moment  that,  taking  his  courage  in  both 
hands,  the  critical  observer  has  hazarded  the 
attribution  to  the  master  himself,  innumerable 
points  suggest  themselves  in  support  of  it.  Among 
these  are  the  pose  of  the  lady's  figure,  the  inimitable 
way  in  which  her  green  satin  petticoat  is  irousse, 
the  peculiar  fashion  in  which  the  satin's  folds 
wrinkle  into  longitudinal  pleats  or  break  into  large 
gleaming  surfaces.  Note,  moreover,  the  character 
of  the  hands,  the  strong,  sinewy  legs,  the  promi- 
nent calves  of  the  amorous  swain  so  anxiously 
ministering  to  the  delight  of  the  slightly  dis- 
dainful maiden,  who  might  well  be  christened 
'  L'Indifferenle,'  so  little  does  she  care  for  any- 
thing save  the  rhythmic  balance  of  the  swing. 
Even  more  entirely  convincing,  to  my  thinking, 
is  the  backgroimd,  half  decorative,  half  real — 
and  wholly  delightful.  The  treatment  of  tree- 
trunks,  branches  and  foliage  is  so  characteristic  of 
Wattcau,  and  of  him  alone,  that  these  passages 
musl  surely  be  from  the  hand  of  the  master  him- 
self, unless  we  are  to  believe  L' Escarpolette  to  be 
the  work  of  a  highly  skilled  forger.  And  this  is 
so  obviously  not  the  case,  this  is  so  obviously  not 
the  way  in  which  a  forger  would  proceed  in  imita- 
tion, that  discussion  of  such  a  supposition — 
and  none  such  has  hitherto  been  indulged  in  — 
appears  wholly  unnecessary.  Lancret,  even  in  that 
early  Watteau-like  phase  which  is  so  well  illustrated 
in  the  Wallace  Collection — especially  in  the  Eele 
in  a  Wooel  (No.  448),  the  Coireersation  Galante 
(No.  422),  and  the  Italian  Comedy  Scene  (No.  465) 
— does  not  get,  or  indeed  strive  for,  exactly  this 
type  of  tree-trunk,  branch  and  foliage  ;  and 
Pater's  slightness  of  touch,  his  brilliant  emptiness, 
are  still  farther  removed  in  technique  and  feeling 
from  this  broad  and  masterly,  if  avowedly  not 
much  more  than  decorative,  handling  of  landscape. 
The  foreground  is  rendered  with  precisely  the 
same  looseness  yet  certainty  of  brush  that  marks 
the  Louvre  version  of  the  Embarquement.  Observe, 
again — and  this,  though  seemingly  only  a  small 
point,  is  really  one  of  great  importance — the  light, 
sketchy  rendering  of  the  ivy  which  clings  to  a  tree- 
trunk  in  the  foreground.  Bind-weed  and  other 
creepers — it  is  difficult  in  this  kind  of  hasty 
decorative  rendering  to  differentiate — are  treated 


345 


A  JVatteau  in  the  Jones  Qollection 


elsewhere  in  precisely  the  same  fashion.  To 
obtain  proof  of  this  we  need  only  refer  to  the 
Berlin  version  of  L'Eiiibaiqitciiictif ;  to  the  great 
Atiiiisciiiciifs  ChaiupClrcs,  No.  391  in  the  Wallace 
Collection  ;  to  the  Mczzctin  of  St.  Petersburg  ;  and 
to  a  dozen  other  works  belonging  to  the  maturity 
of  the  painter.  The  reproduction  here  given 
of  a  well-known  drawing  in  three  chalks,  one 
of  a  great  series  in  the  Louvre,  shows  that  it 
contains  no  less  than  eight  different  views  of  the 
very  female  model  that  has  served  for  this  Escar- 
poleltc  or  Siviiig  of  ours  ;  the  ninth  head  being,  as 
I  take  it,  that  of  the  young  man  who  in  the  picture 
becomes  the  pseudo-shepherd  so  intent  on  setting 
in  motion  the  swing  upon  which  is  agreeably 
balanced  the  fair  form  of  his  cold  and  self-centred 
mistress.  No  pose  of  the  woman's  head  in  the 
picture  exactly  answers  to  any  one  of  the  studies 
in  chalks,  but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  in  these  he 
has  been  seeking  for  the  right  one — to  be  attained, 
however,  only  in  the  picture  itself.  And  this 
brings  me  to  the  only  real  difficulty  that  con- 
fronts us.  This  man's  head,  so  masterly  in  the 
drawing,  is  so  little  masterly,  so  nearly  carica- 
tural  in  the  picture,  that  we  receive  a  slight 
shock.  Is  it  possible  to  believe  that  Watteau  is 
answerable  for  it  ?  I  can  only  account  for  this 
inferiority  of  execution  and  caricatural  character 
on  the  alternative  supposition  that  the  head  was 
either  very  hastily  and  imperfectly  completed,  or 
has  subsequently  suffered  much  from  rubbing  if 
not  some  other  too  drastic  process  of  cleaning. 
But  the  figure  of  the  Anxious  One  {L'An.vieitx)^ 
as  I  should  like  to  call  him  —  is  in  all  other 
respects  as  convincing  as  the  rest,  and  this  one 
curious  blemish  cannot  be  allowed  to  weigh  against 
so  many  striking  points  of  contact  and  conformity. 
Why  then,  it  will  at  once  be  asked,  has  The  Siviiig 
hung  for  so  many  years  unrecognized  on  the  walls 
of  the  gallery  which  enshrines  the  by  no  means 
impeccable,  yet  very  rich  and  varied  Jones 
collection?  Why  has  no  specialist  among  the 
many  who  have  of  late  years  devoted  themselves 
to  the  subject  recognized  it  among  its  fellows, 
now  quite  accurately  labelled — the  unaccountable 
error  made  in  giving  De  Troy's  signed  and  en- 
graved picture  La  Siiifrisc  to  Watteau  having 
long  ago  been  put  right  ?  The  thing  is  strange — 
and  yet  not  so  very  strange,  after  all.  In  the  first 
place  it  would  be  a  gross  exaggeration  to  put  forth 
The  Siting  oi  the  Jones  collection  as  a  masterpiece, 
or,  indeed,  as  anything  more  than  a  charming 
decorative  piece,  nearly  approaching  to,  though 
not  quite  corresponding  with  the  panncau  dccorafif. 
It  is  certainly  not  a  decoration  pure  and  simple,  in 
the  sense  that  L'Etc,  one  of  the  famous  Oiiatvc 
Saisoiis  series  done  for  the  dining-room  of  Crozat's 
sumptuous  mansion,'  is;  or  in  a  line  with  the 
'  Now  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Lionel  Phillips  at  Tylney  Hall, 
Winch  field,  Hampshire  ;  reproduced  by  the  Arundel  Club  in 
their  issue  for  1906. 


Escarpolcttc  and  the  Dcnichctir  dc  Moincaux,  those 
two  pauneaiix  dccoiatifs  (the  latter  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  little  oil  painting,  of  the  same 
name  and  design,  in  the  National  Gallery  of 
Scotland),  which  are  now  only  known  through  the 
engravings  of  Crepy  fils  and  Boucher  respectively. 
The  colour-harmony  of  bluish-green,  blue  and  pink 
in  the  central  figure  of  the  woman  is  pretty  enough  ; 
just  such  an  arrangement,  indeed,  as  we  find, 
treated  with  less  finesse  and  charm,  in  the  decora- 
tive canvases  of  Lancret  and  those  who  would 
appear  to  have  worked  with  him — but  for  Watteau 
not  a  very  distinctive  or  a  very  distinguished 
harmony.  There  is  little  here  of  that  marvellous 
inventiveness  in  the  combination  of  scintillating, 
soft-gleaming,  and  deep-glowing  tints  into  a 
tonality  of  perfect  evenness  and  harmony  that  we 
enjoy,  for  instance,  in  the  Louvre  Euibarqiicinciif, 
in  the  Concert,  the  Harlequin  and  Colnndune,  the 
Gilles  and  his  Family,  all  three  in  the  Wallace 
Collection,  and,  above  all,  in  the  great  Amusements 
Champctres  and  Rendez-vons  de  Cliassc  belonging  to 
the  same  unsurpassed  group  of  works  gathered  to- 
gether at  Hertford  House.  It  will  be  remembered 
how  in  the  former  canvas  wonderful  combinations 
of  amaranth,  blue,  and  silver  sparkle  and  vibrate 
against  the  dark  green  of  the  forest  background, 
in  strong,  delightful  contrast  with  one  frank, 
ringing  harmony  of  scarlet  and  imperial  yellow  ; 
how  in  the  latter  the  sheen  of  pale  blue  and  pale 
pink,  beautifully  combined,  is  heightened  and  yet 
tempered  by  a  whole  gamut  of  cinnamons,  browns 
and  buffs.  The  colour-scheme  of  the  Escarpolctie 
in  the  Jones  collection  is  merely  charming  and 
appropriate,  typically  dix  -  huitieme  si'eclc,  but 
hardly  typical  of  Watteau  as  we  know  him.  It 
may  well  be,  all  the  same,  that  we  are  here 
at  the  fountain-head,  and  that  the  relatively 
commonplace  if  undeniably  effective  arrange- 
ment of  pale,  bright  tints,  so  common  in  French 
eighteenth  -  century  art,  descends  from  Watteau 
himself,  as  he  is  to  be  seen  in  these  mainly 
decorative  canvases,  of  which  not  many  have 
survived.  The  general  tonality,  the  general  as- 
pect of  the  Escarpolette  is,  moreover,  falsified  to 
a  certain  extent  by  the  yellowish  varnish  with 
which  it  is  covered.  The  favourite  motive  of  the 
Swing,  as  an  incident  in  the  fete  champetre— the 
Lover  delighted  with  the  innocent  content  of  the 
Beloved,  and  gladly  her  slave  during  these 
moments  of  ephemeral  happiness — occurs  several 
times  in  the  anvre  of  Watteau  :  for  instance,  in 
the  decorative  canvas  L' Escarpolette,  engraved  by 
Crepy  fils,  and  so  often  reproduced  ;  and  again 
in  the  Agremcuts  de  I'Ete,  now  only  known  in  the 
engraving  by  Joulin.  But  in  no  instance  is  the 
rendering  of  the  sul:iject  at  all  similar,  either  in 
design  or  sentiment,  to  that  which  we  note  in 
the  decorative  picture  of  the  Jones  collection, 
in  restoring  which  to  the  most  exquisite   of   all 


DKAWlXi;    IX   THI>I  I     illMk^.       l-\    Jl    \N 
ANTOINK     WATTEAl'.        IX     THE     LUl A  KE 


A   WATTl-AV    IX    llIK   JOXKS  COLLECTION 


_^uf 


1 


A 


I.      EAKLIKST   STYLE  :    SEVENTH 
AND      SIXTH      CEXTIRIK-i         li.C. 


2.      EAKLY    LiEVELorMENT 


4.      FASHIONABLE   STVLE   OK   THE    EJETH    CENTIKY 


i.      EARLY  AND   TUANSmOXAL   STYLES   AFfEU   THE   PEUSIAN    WARS 


5.      THE   EILLET  :    EIFTH   CENTIRY 


6.      THE   MELON   COIEFIKE  :   SECOND 
HALF   OF    FIFTH    CtNTURY 


HAIRDRESSING    AMONG    THE 
ANCIENT  GREEKS.      PLATE    I 


A  Watteau  in  the  Jones  Qollection 


French  masters  I  hope  that  I  may  be  sup- 
ported by  other  students  of  the  man  and  the 
period. 

In  a  wholly  different  spirit — a  spirit  much  less 
pastoral  and  more  Parisian— is  conceived  the 
famous  Hasardi  Iieitreux  de  l' Escarpolette  of 
Fragonard,  of  which  incomparably  the  finer 
version  is  in  the  Wallace  Collection.  Here  the 
love-god  is  mischievous,  sarcastic,  and  yet  in- 
dulgent. The  patient  and  unsuspecting  father  it 
is  who  works  the  swing,  while  the  gallant,  no 
longer  timid  or  anxious,  but,  alas  !  only  too  enter- 


prising, rejoices  in  his  opportunity.  Watteau's 
little  pastoral  world  is  amorous  with  decency,  with 
reticence  and  a  charm  of  pensiveness  even  in 
sensuous  delight ;  as  Verlaine  has  it,  its  lovers 
only  half  believe  in  their  own  felicity.  Fragonard's 
idylls,  whether  of  the  alcove  or  the  thicket,  are 
swifter  in  action,  more  audacious,  and  informed 
with  a  poetry  of  a  much  lower  order  ;  with  him 
the  flame  leaps  up,  bright  and  warm,  neither 
restrained  nor  directed  into  the  straight  path  ;  but 
the  passion,  short  as  it  is  swift  and  ardent,  soon 
burns  itself  out,  leaving  only  ashes  behind. 


HAIRDRESSING  AMONG  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS 
ukr,  BY  DR.  A.  KOESTER  cK> 


N  keeping  with  the  stiff  and 
rigid  ceremony,  the  outward  ex- 
pression of  an  affected  dignity, 
which  was  popular  at  the  courtsof 
the  ancient  oriental  rulers,  there 
is  noticeable  in  the  Chaldean- 
v» ^^yi  W^'Zit Assyrian  dress,  but  more particu- 
S^Y-^J  y-^C^i'irly  in  the  manner  of  wearing 
the  hair,  something  uncommonly  affected  and 
artificial— I  might  almost  say  something  rigid  and 
hard— that  arouses  in  us  a  vague  sense  of  discom- 
fort, and  makes  us  feel  at  the  same  time  the 
uncomfortableness  and  the  constraint  which  the 
wearer  of  such  a  coiffure  had  to  suffer. 

Exactly  the  opposite  is  to  be  found  in  Greece, 
where  we  can  follow  the  development  and  changes 
of  the  many  and  varied  styles  of  hairdressing 
from  the  earliest  times  by  means  of  the  numerous 
statues  and  busts  dating  from  all  the  different 
epochs  of  classical  antiquity.  Impatient  of  all 
constraint,  the  Greek  of  the  heroic  age  left  his  long, 
waving  hair  unbound,  and  falling  carelessly  in 
heavy  masses  over  back  and  shoulders  in  pictur- 
esque disorder.  And  even  down  to  the  seventh 
and  sixth  centuries  B.C.  this  flowing  hair,  bound 
only  by  a  narrow  ribbon  round  the  head,  was  the 
usual  mode  for  both  men  and  women,  the  only 
distinction  being  that  the  latter  generally  wore 
the  hair  somewhat  longer,  and  as  adornment, 
instead  of  the  simple,  narrow  ribbon,  an  ornament 
of  gold  plate,  or  a  higher,  more  imposing  diadem, 
or  even  a  string  of  pearls  (tig.  i). 

However  simple  and  natural  such  a  style  of 
hairdressing  may  appear,  it  yet  allowed,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  an  abundant  variation  according  to  the 
taste  of  the  wearer  and  the  demands  of  the  pre- 
vailing fashion.  At  first  three  or  four  locks  were 
separated  from  the  mass  of  flowing  hair,  on  cither 
side  behind  the  ears,  and  then  drawn  forward 
over  the  breast,  where  they  hung  down  loosely, 
but  carefully  separated,  in  more  or  less  rich  waves. 
The  rest  of  the  hair  was  combed  backwards  with- 
out any  regard  to  the  natural  parting  of  the  hair 


by  the  crown  of  the  head,  the  whole  falling 
simply  backwards  from  the  diadem  or  band. 
Sometimes  the  back  part  of  the  diadem  or  of  the 
ribbon  runs  directly  on  the  nape  of  the  neck 
under  the  hair,  so  that  the  latter  falls  over  it  ;  but 
sometimes  also  the  combed-back  hair  is  still  held 
fast  by  the  hair-ribbon,  thus  resembling  a  hoop 
pressed  down  upon  the  head.  In  some  cases,  too, 
the  mass  of  hair  at  the  back  was  even  tied  together 
by  a  second  ribbon  below  the  diadem. 

The  Greek  statues  in  archaic  style,  which  show 
this  manner  of  hairdressing  in  great  numbers,  do 
not  give  us  an  absolutely  faultless  picture  of  the 
coiffures  of  that  time ;  or  rather  they  do  not  im- 
part an  absolutely  correct  impression.  From  this, 
however,  we  are  not  to  infer  that  the  creator  of 
such  a  statue  has  '  touched  up,'  or  represented 
something  different  from  what  was  customary  in 
real  life  ;  but  rather  to  impute  it  to  his  own 
artistic  poverty.  The  art  of  earlier  times  is  lack- 
ing in  an  adequate  medium  of  expression,  and 
this  is  more  particularly  the  case  with  the  plastic 
arts.  The  artist  was  not  yet  able  to  represent 
everything  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  an  exact  repro- 
duction of  the  real.  Both  the  separate  strands  of 
hair  and  the  wavy,  flowing  mass  the  sculptor 
sought  to  reproduce  by  furrows  with  crosswise 
cuts,  so  that  a  kind  of  squaring  results  which  gives 
the  appearance,  not  of  loosely  flowing  hair,  but  of 
a  number  of  braids  and  plaits  laid  over  the  head. 
This  misapprehension  of  the  artistic  intention  of 
the  artist  is  all  the  greater,  as  the  statues  now  lack 
the  colours  which  once  contributed,  in  no  small 
measure,  to  the  bringing  out  and  imparting  of  the 
true  impression. 

It  was,  of  course,  the  front  hair  which  ofJered 
the  most  scope  for  varied  and  elaborate  arrange- 
ment. But  there  was  a  general  tendency  to  push 
the  hair  forward  over  the  brow  in  order  to  make 
the  latter  appear  smaller— a  low,  narrow  forehead 
being  considered  a  mark  of  beauty.  Generally, 
the  front  hair  was  either  parted  or  else  laid  in  flat 
semi-circles  round  the  brow  and  temples.     The 


Hairdressing  among  the  Ancient  (greeks 


single  strands  ran  in  even,  wavy  lines  parallel  to 
the  hair-band  ;  or  sometimes  little  tufts  of  hair 
were  drawn  forward,  and  each  tuft  twisted  into 
a  snail-like  or  button-shaped  curl,  which  curls  then 
surmounted  the  forehead  in  several  rows,  one 
above  the  other,  like  a  wreath.  This  fashion  was 
very  popular  also  with  men.  By  a  combination 
of  these  two  methods  of  arranging  the  front 
hair,  an  already  rather  complicated  coiffure  was 
created.  Immediately  in  front  of  the  diadem  a 
part  of  the  hair,  about  two  fingers'  breadth,  lay  in 
horizontal  waves,  and  below  these  two  rows  of 
snail-shaped  curls  ;  or  else  the  curls  welled  out 
immediately  beneath  the  diadem,  and  were  fin- 
ished off  with  a  border  of  smooth  hair.  This 
combined  arrangement  of  the  front  hair  is  often 
to  be  found  in  antique  works  of  art ;  but  we  must 
not  take  it  for  a  reproduction  of  an  actual  coiffure 
in  all  cases.  In  many  cases  we  have  to  deal  with 
an  ornament  made  of  gold-plate  to  imitate  the 
natural  lines  of  the  hair,  which  was  fastened  over 
the  forehead.  And  as  the  colour  which  once 
brought  this  ornament  into  sharp  relief  is  now 
lacking  in  the  statues  and  busts,  it  is  not  always 
possible  to  state  with  certainty  whether,  in 
individual  cases,  such  an  ornament  or  actual  hair- 
dressing  is  in  question.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  is  very  often  the  latter. 

Sometimes,  instead  of  rolling  up  the  locks  of 
hair  in  front  of  the  diadem  into  button-like  spiral 
curls,  the  separate  strands  were  brought  rather 
far  forward,  and  allowed  to  hang  low  down  over 
the  forehead,  where  they  ended  in  little  curls 
twisted  into  a  spiral  form  (fig.  2).  This  style  has 
already  something  affected  and  artificial  about  it, 
especially  when  combined  with  a  careful  treat- 
ment of  the  tresses  falling  over  the  breast,  as,  for 
example,  in  the  well-known  statue  in  the  Acropolis 
Museum  at  Athens  (fig.  2),  in  which  the  front 
tresses  are  twisted  into  the  form  of  a  rope. 

At  the  time  of  the  Persian  Wars,  which  made 
such  a  deep  cleavage  in  all  spheres  of  Greek  culture, 
a  change  in  the  style  of  hairdressing  also  becomes 
noticeable,  in  which  the  busy  toiling  and  striving 
of  the  succeeding  epoch  are  reflected.  The 
aristocratic  arrangement  of  the  daintily  dressed 
front  hair,  and  of  the  symmetrical  tresses  falling 
over  the  breast,  which  necessitated  a  measured  and 
dignified  bearing  and  address,  disappeared,  and  a 
coiffure  more  favourable  to  the  free  and  unhampered 
movement  of  the  body  came  into  prominence. 
The  first  step,  the  taking  up  and  binding  of  the 
loosely  flowing  hair,  was,  it  is  true,  made  even  a 
considerable  time  before  the  Persian  Wars, 
especially  where  the  free  movement  of  the  body 
was  hampered  by  long  hair,  as  we  may  learn  from 
numerous  copies  of  the  paintings  on  ancient 
vases ;  but  not  until  the  fifth  century  does  the 
tendency  of  the  new  mode,  particularly  in  the 
hairdressing   of   the   women,    really   assert   itself. 


The  manner  in  which  the  hair  was  put  up  was,  of 
course,  extremely  varied,  and  thus  a  rich  diversity 
of  styles  was  made  possible.  The  oldest  mode, 
which  was  at  the  same  time  very  popular  with 
men,  is  the  most  simple.  The  loose  hair  was 
raised  behind  and  fastened  at  the  back  of  the 
head  by  means  of  the  hair-ribbon.  When  the 
hair  was  short,  only  the  ends  were  fastened  ;  in 
case  of  a  longer  growth,  the  hair  was  drawn 
through  the  ribbon  so  that  the  ends  hung  loosely 
down  over  it.  Pig.  3  gives  us  a  good  picture  of 
this  manner  of  hairdressing ;  it  proves  also 
that  the  transformation  of  the  fashion  did  not 
take  place  suddenly,  but  that  the  new  mode 
was  evolved  gradually  out  of  the  old.  The 
figure  on  the  right  in  our  illustration  still  keeps  to 
the  arrangement  of  the  earlier  time  :  with  the 
stiff  curls  low  on  the  forehead  and  completely 
covering  the  temples,  and  with  these,  as  innova- 
tion, the  back  hair  bound  up  just  above  the  nape 
of  the  neck,  whilst  the  figure  on  the  left  still  gives 
the  preference  to  the  older  fashion  of  streaming 
hair,  a  proof  that  for  a  time  both  modes  were 
worn  side  by  side.  Sometimes  even  the  loose 
tresses  hanging  over  the  breast  were  still  worn 
while  the  back  hair  was  put  up.  In  the  course  of 
the  fifth  century  this  bound-up  bunch  of  hair 
dwindled  to  a  roll  or  twist  which  was  worn  in 
several  ways.  The  most  popular  mode,  especially 
in  the  classical  age,  was  the  arrangement  to  be 
seen  in  the  magnificent  bronze  head  in  fig.  4.  The 
long  front  hair  is  parted  in  the  middle,  and 
combed  back  on  either  side,  while  the  back  hair 
is  turned  up  at  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  coiled 
into  a  roll  or  twist.  This  style  is  already  to  be 
found  in  the  sculptures  of  Olympia  as  well  as  in 
those  of  the  Parthenon.  A  somewhat  dift'erent 
form,  in  which  not  only  the  back  hair  but  also 
the  front  hair  was  drawn  together  into  a  roll, 
appears  to  have  been  less  popular  with  the  women  ; 
as  was  also,  for  instance,  the  coiffure  worn  by 
the  EUctra  in  the  well-known  relief,  in  which  the 
front  hair  is  rolled  over  a  band,  while  the  back 
hair  flows  down  unbound. 

Still  more  firmly  than  by  the  hair-ribbon  or  the 
roll  was  the  hair  kept  together  by  a  kind  of  net  or 
sack,  as  we  may  observe  m  various  figures  from 
Olympia.  Sometimes  this  sack  surrounds  or  en- 
velops the  entire  mass  of  hair,  reminding  one  of 
a  cap  or  band  as  worn  by  Italian  girls  to  this  day 
when  at  dusty  work.  Also  in  the  antique  coiffure 
as  early  as  the  fifth  century  we  find  this  hair-sack 
frequently  replaced  by  a  long  fillet  wound  several 
times  around  the  head  (fig.  5),  and  taking  up  and 
binding  the  hair  in  a  great  variety  of  ways. 
Where  the  growth  of  hair  was  not  so  luxuriant,  a 
simple  ribbon  sufficed  to  secure  the  coifture. 

In  place  of  the  separate  locks  of  hair  which  we 
have  met  with  in  the  earlier  manner  of  hairdressing, 
there  appears  in  the  fifth  century  the  plait  or  braid. 


352 


S.      IIITH      CliXTUi-Y,     LXIMBIKATION     Ol'     I'AsliKiN- 
ABLE   AND   SlMPl.KN    Mollis,    WITH    Dul'llLI-;    NllilidX 


FIFTH    LI-N1I"K'V,    MMI-II   l;    M'iDl- 


9.      ANOTHER    IsE    ul-    THE    li;)riiLE    KUUSiiN 


10.      THE    KNOT   AND   UOFUI.E   KHiliON 


II.      UEVLl-Ol'MENT    OF    FK..  4  :      lilt    Kol.L    \M  1  H    Wkl.AlH 


12.      Ulh    KOl.l,    WITH    DIADEM 


y 


HAIRDRESSING     AMONG     THE 
ANCIENT  GREEKS.     PLATE   II 


a> 


A 


15.      THE    HOW   CUlKiaUiE  :  FURTHEK  stage  of  KlUb.  13  AM)  14 


13.       TKEATMENT   OF   SIDE   LOCKS 


17.      HELLENISTIC  PERIOD 


HAIRDRESSIN'G      AMoSci     'I'HK 
ANCIENT    GREEKS.      PLATE    III 


Hairdressing  among  the  Ancient  Greeks 


This  braided  hair,  it  is  true,  does  not  hang  down, 
but  two  plaits  from  the  mass  of  hair  growing 
especially  thick  on  the  temples  run  from  the  ears 
backwards,  cross  each  other  at  the  back  of  the 
neck,  and  are  then  laid  around  the  head  like  a 
fillet  and  knotted  together  above  the  middle  of 
the  forehead.  These  plaits  served  more  as  a 
fastening  than  a  real  disposition  of  the  hair,  as 
they  were  laid  over  the  hair  combed  back  from 
the  parting,  pressing  it  firmly  to  the  head.  Fre- 
quently, too,  a  portion  of  the  hair  is  brought  back 
from  the  parting  over  the  front  part  of  the  braids 
so  that  they  are  covered  up  and  not  visible 
from  the  front.  Besides  this  arrangement  of 
double  plaits,  both  parts  of  which  begin  behind 
the  ears  and  are  crossed  at  the  nape  of  the  neck, 
there  is  another  style  somewhat  different,  in 
which  the  two  plaits  begin  at  the  back  of  the 
neck,  where  they  then  separate  on  either  side, 
thus  binding  up  the  coiffure  exactly  like  a  hair- 
ribbon.  The  first  arrangement  appears  to  have 
been  worn  more  in  Attica.  Within  the  limits  of 
this  leading  }]wiif  of  the  two  plaits  wound  about 
the  head  there  still  remained  a  wider  field  for  the 
display  of  individuality  and  fancy  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  front  hair,  according  to  the  age  and 
taste  of  the  wearer  ;  and  the  works  of  art  of  the 
fifth  century  which  have  come  down  to  us  reveal 
quite  a  number  of  variations  in  this  style  of  hair- 
dressing.  We  find  both  the  so-called  cork-screw 
curls  and  the  small  symmetrical  snail-shaped 
curls  sometimes  combined  with  plaits  hanging 
down  over  the  ears  ;  or,  again,  the  front  hair 
curled  low  on  the  forehead,  or  even  the  richly  elabo- 
rate coiffure  of  the  maidens  of  the  Erechtheion. 
In  the  latter  a  mass  of  curled  hair  covers  the 
temples,  and  is  then  combed  backwards  and  kept 
firm  by  braids  ;  at  the  nape  of  the  neck  is  another 
mass  of  flowing  hair  tied  at  the  shoulders  with  a 
ribbon,  and,  besides,  two  thick  braids  beginning 
behind  the  ears  and  drawn  forward  over  the 
breast,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  stiff  locks  of  a 
century  earlier. 

A  peculiar  mode  of  hairdressing  which  arose 
in  the  second  half  of  the  fifth  century  is  the 
so-called  'melon'  coiffure,  as  seen,  for  exam- 
ple, in  the  fine  head,  fig.  6.  The  entire  mass 
of  hair  is  separated  into  several  portions  run- 
ning from  the  forehead  straight  back  over 
the  head,  each  portion  being  separately  curled 
and  twisted,  and  then  arranged  in  locks 
running  parallel  one  beside  the  other.  This  coif- 
fure, which  we  meet  with  in  the  school  of  Pheidias 
and  his  pupils,  was  also  a  favourite  motif  of  the 
school  of  Praxiteles,  and  as  a  coiffure  remained 
popular  up  to  the  Hellenistic  age,  as  we  learn 
from  the  portraits  on  coins  of  some  Hellenic 
queens  who  are  represented  wearing  their  hair 
in  this  manner.  In  the  time  of  the  Roman 
emperors  the  melon  coiffure  was  again  brought 


into  fashion  and  was  much  worn,  especially  by 
young  girls. 

Besides  this  more  or  less  formal  arrangement  of 
the  hair  as  worn  in  the  fifth  century  in  Greece,  the 
simple  and  natural  coiffure  remained  in  use,  and 
for  young  girls,  also,  the  flowing,  unbound  hair,  as 
we  may  see  in  the  Relief  of  Eleusis,  or  the  prize 
runner  in  the  Vatican,  or,  again,  in  the  consider- 
ably younger  head  in  Madrid  (fig.  7).  On  the  last- 
mentioned  head  the  combed  back  hair  is  bound  at 
the  nape  of  the  neck  with  a  double  ribbon  and 
then  falls  over  the  shoulders  in  a  mass  of  separate 
locks. 

One  may  regard  the  coiffure  which  Kephisodotos, 
for  example,  presents  to  us  in  his  Eirciie  (fig.  8)  as 
a  combination  of  the  fashion  which  allows  the 
hair  to  fall  in  flowing  lines  over  back  and  shoul- 
ders, and  that  in  which  the  hair  is  pushed  carelessly 
back  from  the  front,  more  or  less  concealing  the 
temples  and  cheeks,  and  then  bound  with  a  ribbon 
at  the  nape  of  the  neck  in  a  simple  knot.  In  the 
coiffure  referred  to,  the  hair  is  not  parted,  but  is 
combed  down  from  the  crown  equally  on  all  sides, 
in  the  manner  of  the  latter  end  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury. The  mass  of  hair  thus  drawn  towards  the 
front  is  then  divided  above  the  middle  of  the  fore- 
head, twisted  slightly  and  then  wound  round  a 
ribbon  laid  rather  low  down  across  the  brow  and 
head  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  only  visible  in  the 
centre  of  the  forehead,  being  concealed  as  far  as 
the  ears  by  the  hair  which  falls  over  it  in  loose 
waves,  and  is  then  drawn  through  the  ribbon 
behind  the  ears  and  allowed  to  fall  in  long  flowing 
curls  over  the  shoulders.  Another  ribbon  encir- 
cles the  head  a  little  higher  up  than  the  first, 
binding  the  hair  combed  down  from  the  crown 
on  all  sides,  which  then  hangs  down  from  the 
nape  of  the  neck  in  twisted  locks.  We  might  re- 
gard the  older  front  roll  of  hair  as  a  forerunner 
of  this  style,  only  that  the  front  hair  rolled  around 
the  band  is  much  firmer  and  tighter  and  has  con- 
sequently a  more  severe  and  conventional  effect. 

The  employment  of  two  ribbons,  as  shown  by  the 
head  of  the  Eireiie,  is  often  to  be  observed  in  the 
golden  age  of  Greece ;  for  instance,  in  the  works 
of  art  near  to  Praxiteles  and  his  school,  and  above 
all  in  the  great  master's  most  prominent  work,  the 
Head  of  Aphrodite  of  Kiiidos  (fig.  9).  Whilst  in  the 
Eireite  of  Kephisodotos  the  first  ribbon  is  wound 
about  the  head  so  low  down  that  it  touches  the 
forehead  and  is  brought  back  immediately  above 
the  ears,  in  the  Aphrodite  of  Praxiteles  the  ribbon 
is  laid  across  the  head  and  runs  less  horizontally. 
The  second  ribbon  lies  at  a  distance  of  about  two 
fingers'  breadth  and  parallel  to  the  first,  and  almost 
over  the  middle  of  the  head.  Essentially  different 
is  the  division  of  the  hair  with  regard  to  the  crown 
of  the  head,  which  is  not  taken  into  consideration 
at  all.  The  hair  is  combed  straight  back  from  the 
front  in  loose,  flowing  waves,  and  tied  together 


D  D 


357 


Hairdressing  among  the  Ancient  Greeks 


with  a  ribbon  just  above  tlie  nape  of  the  neck,  so 
that  where  the  hair  is  particularly  thick  or  long  a 
great  bunch  or  shock  of  hair  is  the  result.  In 
the  head  in  question  there  is  only  a  bunch  of  hair, 
which  certainly  makes  a  graceful  and  harmonious 
picture  executed  in  statuary,  but  could  scarcely 
have  been  so  arranged  in  reality,  and  is  rather  to  be 
considered  as  a  knot,  such  as  is  to  be  seen  in  fig.  lo. 
The  charming,  somewhat  older  head  to  be  seen 
in  the  Niobids  at  Florence  displays  an  unusually 
graceful  variation  of  the  simple  coiffure  formed 
by  two  hair-ribbons.  As  in  the  Eirene  of 
Kephisodotos,  the  hair  is  parted  above  the  centre 
of  the  forehead,  regard  being  had  to  the  natural 
parting,  and  combed  back  on  either  side.  The 
front  hair  still  falls  partly  over  temples  and 
cheeks,  so  that  the  ears  are  half  concealed,  and 
then  unites  at  the  nape  of  the  neck  with  the  hair 
coming  directly  from  the  top  of  the  head,  to  form 
a  knot.  The  whole  coiffure  is  held  together  by 
two  rather  broad  bands,  which  cross  above  the 
ears.  By  the  manner  in  which  they  are  pressed 
down  into  the  hair,  causing  it  to  well  out  between 
them,  the  loose  and  carelessly  graceful  style  of  the 
whole  arrangement  is  particularly  emphasized. 

In  the  earlier  period,  the  first  half  of  the  fifth 
century,  we  had  met  with  a  coiffure  in  which  the 
hair  at  the  nape  of  the  neck  is  twisted  round  the 
ribbon  in  the  form  of  a  bunch  or  coil   (fig.  4). 
This  style  came  into  vogue  again  at  a  later  period, 
although  in  an  entirely  free  variation,  only   the 
principle  being  the  same,  as  may  be  seen  in  a 
Head  of  Persephone  in  the  Capitol.     The  hair  is 
parted  and   combed   backwards,    and,  beginning 
at  the  sides,  is  rolled  around  a  ribbon  into  a  loose 
coil,  the  ribbon  being  visible  only   in  front.     A 
further  evolution  of  this  coil  or  roll  is  displayed 
to  us  in  fig.  II.     The    band  is  here    represented 
by   a   wreath,  around  which,  however,  only  the 
hair  meeting   at    the    nape    is    twisted.      In  the 
Aphrodite  (tig.  I2j  a  diadem  takes  the  place  of  the 
wreath.     There  was  one  arrangement  which  was 
more  or  less  common  to  both  the  last-mentioned 
coiffures;  i.e.,  from  the  forehead  and  the  temples  a 
mass  of  hair,  separated  from  the  rest,  was  taken  back 
to  the  knot  behind.     Another  principle,  differing 
somewhat   from   this,   asserted   itself   in   another 
arrangement  of  the  hair,  which  was  very  popular 
throughout   a   long  period.     We   can   follow   its 
evolution    from    the    very    beginning  up    to    its 
richest    expansion.     Fig.   13    shows    us    a    head 
which    still    belongs    to    the    fifth   century,   and 
reminds    us    of    the  works   of    earlier    times    in 
the  treatment  of  the    upper    part    of    the   head, 
whilst  in  front  the    hair  is   parted  and  combed 
simply  backwards.     But  not  all  of  it — and  that  is 
just  the  decisive  innovation.     In  a  line  with  the 
middle  of  the  forehead  on  either  side  two  locks  of 
hair  are  separated  from  the, rest ;  they  have  escaped 
from  the  general  procession  to  the  knot  at  the  nape 


of  the  neck,  and  go  their  own  way  running  farther 
upwards.  The  next  illustration  (fig.  14),  repre- 
senting the  head  of  an  Aphrodite  in  the  Louvre, 
shows  us  the  new  style  already  in  a  more 
advanced  stage.  On  either  side  of  the  parting 
which  runs  to  the  centre  of  the  forehead  a  quantity 
of  hair  has  separated  from  the  rest,  and  now 
crossing  over  the  ribbon  runs  almost  parallel  to  the 
parting  in  wavy  tresses  of  considerable  length.  At 
the  top  of  the  head  the  rolled-up  ends  of  these 
tresses  approach  each  other  so  closely  that  they  are 
just  touching.  This  contact  naturally  leads  in  the 
next  stage  of  the  development  to  a  combination 
which  at  first  appears  as  a  simple  braiding  or 
knotting,  but  soon  takes  on  the  form  of  a  more  or 
less  complicated  bow. 

Within  the  limits  of  this  coiffure  abundant 
variety  could  be  obtained,  according  to  the  taste 
and  fashion  of  the  time.  Sometimes  it  is  a  single 
modest  lock  on  either  side  of  the  parting  which 
has  escaped,  to  mingle  at  the  top  of  the  head  with 
the  corresponding  lock  coming  from  the  other  side. 
Sometimes  there  are  several  locks,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  beautiful  head  in  the  British  Museum  (fig. 
15).  The  hair,  taken  up  in  the  form  of  a  bow, 
often  starts  from  immediately  above  the  middle  of 
the  forehead  on  either  side  of  the  parting,  then 
again  from  above  the  temples,  thus  leaving  free 
rather  a  large  space  between  them,  and  allowing 
the  front  hair,  which  is  parted  and  lies  close  to  the 
head,  to  remain  visible  (fig.  15). 

A  very  instructive  example  of  the  rich  possi- 
bilities to  which  the  '  bow '  coiffure  lent  itself, 
and  the  variety  of  ways  in  which  it  was  worn  by 
the  ladies  of  a  later  period,  is  given  by  fig.  16,  the 
Three  Graces  in  the  Louvre.  Especially  since  the 
time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  when  courtly  luxury 
and  extravagant  splendour  began  to  be  displayed 
everywhere,  the  feminine  head-dress  also  took  on 
the  most  various  shapes,  till  then  unknown.  This 
was,  of  course,  especially  the  case  in  the  luxurious 
capital  cities  of  the  Seleucids,  the  Ptolemies  and 
the  other  Diadochi ;  and  the  rich  commercial  cities 
of  Greek  culture,  with  Ephesus,  Miletus,  Smyrna, 
etc.,  at  the  head,  were  not  far  behind.  The  elegant 
women  and  young  girls  of  that  time,  who  adorned 
themselves  with  the  most  costly  raiment,  also 
bestowed  the  greatest  care  upon  the  form  of  their 
coiffure.  The  beautiful  ringlets  of  Queen  Berenice, 
immortalized  by  poets  and  painters,  were  almost 
proverbial,  and  Lucian  emphasizes  with  great 
eloquence  the  gracefully-coiled  coifTure  of  beautiful 
women,  as  do  also  the  later  Greek  epigrammatists. 
A  good  example  of  the  complicated  and  extravagant 
hairdressing  of  that  period  is  furnished  by  a  head 
in  the  Jena  collection  (fig.  17),  the  coiffure  of  which 
in  its  cunning  and  much  twisted  arrangement  is 
already  passing  over  into  the  style  of  the  Roman 
period,  which  produced  the  most  marvellous 
structures  in  the  coiffure  of  the  Julian  empresses. 


QUATTROCENTO  BOOK  COLLECTING— I 
cA.  BY  G.  T.   CLOUGH  ^ 


■HEN  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury the  Itahan  Humanists 
started  on  that  mission  of 
'  waking  the  dead  '  which 
,  was  to  open  their  country- 
men's eyes  to  the  glories 
of  ancient  literature,  they 

_      _         created   such   a   demand 

for  copies  ot  the  classics,  that,  if  Germany  had  not 
relieved   the   strain    by  the   introduction    of   the 
printing  press,  Italy  must  herself  have  invented  it. 
For  the  defects  of  the  manuscript  system,  as  em- 
ployed for  the  production  of  books,  were  patent 
and  exasperating;  its  inaccuracy  being  even  more 
adverse  to   efficiency  than    its  tediousness.     The 
preciousness  of   the  existing  codices  of  classical 
authors,  which    forbade    their    being    entrusted, 
on  any  but  the  rarest  occasions,  to  professional 
copyists,  compelled  the  utilization,  when  additional 
copies  of  an  author  were  wanted,  of  a  modern 
version  more  or  less  faulty  to  start  with  ;  and,  as 
each   ignorant  copyist  added   his  own  blunders, 
variations  from  the  original  went  on  increasing 
with  a  compound  interest  of  inaccuracy  until,  as 
Petrarch  tells  us  was  the  case  in  his  day,  an  author 
whose  style  was  originally  obscure  acquired  such 
a  further  accretion  of  obscurity  as  to  be  in  danger 
of  being  laid  aside  as  hopeless.     Yet  the  reception 
given  to  the  new  invention  by  the  nation  that  was 
to  benefit  by  it  was  the  reverse  of  enthusiastic. 
The  conservatism  of  human  nature  made  patrons 
of   literature  cling  to   books   executed   after   the 
method  employed  in  the  production  of  the  original 
codices,  and  attach  special  value  to  those  written 
in  a  hand  resembling  the  so-called  Lombard  pen- 
manship of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  while 
the  margmal  decorations  and  the  beautiful  illumi- 
nated  capitals,  which   embellished   the    copyist's 
handiwork,  and  were  the  last  part  of  the  text  to  be 
exchanged  for  the  typefounder's  more  restricted 
ornamentation,  were   attractions   that  were  most 
unwillingly  surrendered.    The  German  extraction, 
moreover,  of  the  new  process  would  not  recom- 
mend it  to  minds  that,  unprophetic  of  the  high 
service  that  was  to  be  rendered  by  German  criticism 
in  the  coming  centuries  to  Italian  art  and  litera- 
ture, held  Germany  to  be  a  land  of  beniglited  and 
hopeless  barbarism. 

It  is  out  of  this  crisis  in  the  book  trade — this 
period  of  hesitating  and  reluctant  transition  be- 
tween manual  and  mechanical  literary  reproduc- 
tion— that  a  volume  of  reminiscences  has  come 
down  to  us  from  the  pen  of  a  Florentine  book- 
seller, Vespasiano  da  Bisticci,  which,  in  the  form 
of  short  biographies  of  the  leading  literati  and 
book-buyers  of  his  time,  throws  light,  not  only 
upon  the  arcana  of  book  collecting  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  but  upon  the  high  literary  purpose  that 
impelled  and  inform.ed  it.     The  advantages  which 


Vespasian's  position  as  the  leading  bookseller  in 
Florence,  and  for  the  time  in  Italy,  gave  him  for 
learning   the    aims   of    the    literati   and   wealthy 
magnates  who  frequented   his  scriitoria,  or  sent 
him  commissions,  and  the  naive  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  appropriates  their  opinions,   make  his 
book   fill  a  role  in    the  history  of    Renascentine 
literature  similar  to  that  occupied  by  Vasari's  in 
the  history  of  Renascentine  painting  and  sculpture, 
and  as  such  have  earned  for  it  hearty  appreciation 
from  the  general  historian  of  the  period.     By  its 
help,  too,  the  art  critic  is  enabled  to  gauge  more 
effectively  the  strength  of  that  neo-classical  revival 
which,    permeating    Florentine    literary    society, 
could  not  fail  to  affect  the  practice  of  her  artists, 
and  thus  increase  the  number  of  those  deviations, 
from  the  sacred  to  the  classical  type  of  subject, 
which  her  sculptors  and   painters  were  allowing 
themselves  as  the   result  of  Roman  excavations. 
Profane  subjects  lodged  in  private  houses  not  being, 
like  altarpieces,  specially  protected  by  their  sacred 
character  from  destruction   whether  the  result  of 
accident,  or  of  Savonarolan  bonfires  of  'vanities,' 
it  is  probable  that  literary  pictures,  like  Piero  di 
Cosimo's    Cephahis    and  Procris,   and    Botticelli's 
Calumny  of  Apdlcs  were  executed  for  the    orna- 
mentation of  private  dwellings  in  larger  numbers 
than  their  frequency  in  our  galleries,  relatively  to 
religious  ones,  would    authorize  our  concluding. 
Venice  has  sent  down  to  us  in  Titian's  so-called 
Sacral  and  Profane  Love  and  in   l\Iarc  Antonio's 
version  of  a  lost  Giorgionesque  picture  illustrating 
a  passage  in  the  Virgilian  commentator,  Servius, 
memorials   of    the    bond    existing    between    her 
literati  and  her  painters,  and  it  may  be  reasonably 
concluded  that  the  association   between  the  two 
professions   in  Florence,  the   centre   of   the  neo- 
classical reaction,  would  be  no  less  intimate  and 
fruitful.     More  important,  however,  in  its  bearings 
upon  the  art  of  the  Renaissance,  than  any  direct 
literary   inspiration  given    by   the    Humanists   to 
painters   and  sculptors,   is    the  solvent    influence 
which  they  exercised  upon  the  minds  of  clerical 
patrons,  by  removing  their  prejudice  against  the 
study   and    unrestricted  treatment   of   the    nude, 
a    matter    so    vital    to    all    progress    in     figure 
drawing. 

It  is  difficult  for  any  one  conversant  with  the  tone 
of  mediaeval  society,  including  that  of  its  gothic 
grotesque  carvers,  to  imagine  such  a  picture  as 
Botticelli's  Birth  of  Venns,  free  from  all  sensual 
suggestiveness  as  it  is,  being  commissioned  even 
by  a  lay  mediaeval  patron  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
when  a  state  of  society  had  been  reached  in  which 
good  churchmen  talked  of  Christ  as  '  the  supreme 
Thunderer,'  and  a  cardinal  could  speak  of  his 
dead  friends  as  '  gone  to  take  part  in  Bacchic 
dances  with  the  gods  of  Olympus,'  it  is  not  easy  to 
imagine  minds  so  constituted  exercising  any  very 


359 


Quattrocento  Book  (Collecting 

severe  Puritanical  criticism  upon  pictures  or 
sculpture  submitted  to  them. 

The  Humanists  then,  when  they  first  felt  stirring 
within  them  the  impulses  which  were  to  create 
and  mould  the  modern  world,  did  not,  as  some 
would  nowadays  recommend  them  to  have  done, 
turn  their  faces  towards  the  unexplored  regions 
of  natural  science  ;  but,  giving  literary  culture  the 
first  place  in  their  efforts,  devoted  themselves  with 
passionate  ardour  to  the  promotion  of  the  study 
of  the  great  writers  of  antiquity.  Here,  however, 
they  were  met  and  obstructed  at  every  turn  by  the 
corrupt  condition  of  the  existing  copies  of  the 
classics,  so  that  the  emendation  of  their  text,  by 
collation  with  that  of  early  codices,  presented 
itself  as  the  preliminary  condition  to  any  effective 
progress.  Add  to  this  consideration  the  impression 
prevailing  in  their  minds,  and,  as  the  event  proved, 
only  too  well  grounded  on  fact,  that  the  specimens 
of  ancient  literature  current  among  Italian 
scholars  represented  only  a  moiety  of  the  legacy 
bequeathed  to  posterity  by  Greek  and  Latin 
authors,  and  that  in  far-distant  German  convents 
or  Levantine  monasteries  manuscripts  which  were 
necessary  to  the  completion  of  the  oracles  of  their 
faith  were  perishing,  and  one  can  understand  the 
zeal  with  which  men  compassed  sea  and  land 
upon  the  chance  of  the  recovery  of  a  few  moulder- 
ing parchments.  Human  life  itself  was  cheap  in 
their  eyes  when  weighed  against  the  rescue  from 
annihilation  of  a  fragment  from  Cicero  or 
Quintilian,  and  it  was  the  crowning  proof  of 
Germany's  literary  ignominy  that  manuscripts  in 
her  convents  were  consigned  to  dungeons,  teterrimi 
et  fedissiini  carceres  where  their  message  was  denied 
all  utterance,  and  which  'were  not  fit  quarters 
for  human  beings,  much  less  for  books  to  be 
placed  in.' 

The  course  of  public  events  favoured  the 
Humanists  in  their  quest  for  ancient  manuscripts. 
First,  the  Council  of  Constance  took  such  of  them 
as  were  poor  officials  of  the  Papal  Curia,  or  great 
ecclesiastics'  secretaries,  into  a  region  that,  if  they 
could  overcome  their  horror  of  going  into  '  the 
bowels  of  the  Alps,'  was  exceptionally  likely  to  re- 
ward the  investigations  of  experts.  Favoured  by 
this  opening,  Poggio  Bracciolini  found  in  the  dust- 
heap  of  a  convent  at  St.  Gallen,  among  other 
treasures,  certain  treatises  of  Cicero's  which 
were  new  to  Italian  scholars,  and  made  what 
his  friend  Bruni  called  the  '  immense  acquisi- 
tion'  of  a  complete  copy  of  the  Institutions 
of  Quintilian.  Then  the  advancing  tide  of  the 
Mahommedan  invasion  drove  before  it  to 
Italy  an  increasing  number  of  impecunious 
Byzantine  fugitives,  carrying  precious  Greek 
manuscripts  among  their  scanty  belongings,  and 
being  furnished,  some  of  them,  with  more  or  less 
ofability  to  translate  them.  For  knowledge  of  Greek 
was  rare  in  the  ranks   of   the  earlier  Humanists. 

360 


Until  they  could  acquire  it,  Latin  versions  of 
Homer  had  to  content  them  ;  and  Greece  surely 
never  had  stronger  testimony  paid  to  the  magic  of 
her  influence  over  men  than  when  Italian  literati, 
of  whose  character  humility  was  decidedly  not  a 
distinguishing  feature,  put  themselves  to  school  to 
famishing  Byzantine  fugitives — Greciili  esurientes — 
who  were  poor  creatures,  the  most  of  them. 

The  treasures  of  classical  learning  which  the 
Italian  Humanists  recovered  for  themselves  sink 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  their 
acquisitions  for  wealthy  patrons  of  the  classical 
revival.  Fortunate  indeed  did  the  poor  scholar 
consider  himself  who  came  upon  an  early  codex 
which  had  escaped  the  search  of  Cosmo  de'  Medici's 
corps  of  far-posted  commercial  agents.  The  best 
of  them  felt  all  competition  with  the  banker's 
long  purse  to  be  hopeless,  and,  placing  the  gain 
to  literature  above  their  own  private  advan- 
tage, put  the  great  collector  on  the  scent  of  rare 
documents  of  whose  existence  intelligence  had 
reached  them.  Poggio  Bracciolini's  position  as 
secretary  at  the  Papal  court  gave  him  special 
opportunities  of  getting  from  delegates  of  Northern 
monasteries,  whom  business  briuight  to  Rome,  in- 
formation about  the  contents  of  their  libraries,  and 
the  power  of  putting  pressure  upon  witnesses  who 
might  prove  reticent  or  recalcitrant  in  their  attitude. 
It  may  be  imagined  what  a  stir  was  made  among 
Humanist  collectors  when  in  1429  a  certain 
Nicholas  of  Treves  arrived  in  Rome  with  a  cata- 
logue of  a  number  of  early  codices,  which  he  could 
put  his  hands  upon  when  wanted,  and  which,  as 
Voigt,  who  tells  the  story,  suggests,  had  almost 
certainly  been  obtained  surreptitiously  from  some 
German  convent.  In  their  number  were  portions 
of  Cicero,  a  complete  copy  of  Gellius,  a  Curtius, 
with  the  rare  first  book,  and,  transcending  all  the 
rest  in  importance,  a  Plautus,  of  which  twelve  of 
the  comedies  were  unknown  to  Italian  scholars. 
The  richness  of  the  booty  was  so  great  that  the 
Florentine  expert,  Niccolo  Niccoli,  when  informed 
of  it  by  Bracciolini,  suspected  imposture.  But 
after  sundry  disappointments  the  books  arrived  in 
Rome  and  were  sold,  not  to  Bracciolini,  but  to  his 
friend,  the  wealthier  Cardinal  Orsini.  Instantly  all 
the  collector-magnates  of  Italy— Philip  Maria  Duke 
of  Milan,  the  Marquis  Leonello  d'Este,  and 
Lorenzode' Medici— besiege  the  fortunatepurchaser 
with  requests  for  permission  to  take  copies  of  the 
Plautus.  Only  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  when  he 
came  up  to  Rome  to  pay  his  respects  to  Eugenius 
IV  on  his  election  to  the  Papacy,  was  the  precious 
manuscript  lent  by  its  owner.  It  was  most  reluc- 
tantly returned,  and  now  reposes  in  the  Vatican. 

Previously  to  this,  and  a  quarter  of  a  century 
before  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  a  Sicilian  book- 
dealing  Humanist,  named  Aurispa,  had  paid  a 
visit  to  that  city  and  swept  it  so  bare  of  Greek 
manuscripts,  sacred  and  profane,  that  complaints 


were  made  fo  tlie  rei!:;ning  emperor  of  tlie 
scarcity  of  theological  books  produced  by  his 
depredations.  These  last  he  sent  before  him  to 
Messina.  Having  made  Constantinople  too  hot 
to  hold  him  by  the  wholesale  character  of  his 
purchases,  the  man  arrived  in  Venice  in  the  spring 
of  1423  with  no  less  than  238  volumes  of  classical 
authors  in  his  boxes,  having  been  reduced  to  sell- 
ing hisclothes  to  raise  thelast  of  thepurchase  money. 
Among  his  treasures  were  copies,  more  or  less 
complete,  of  Plato  and  Xenophon,  of  Demosthenes, 
Diodorus,  Strabo,  Lucian,  and  Dion  Cassius. 
But  the  gem  of  the  collection  was  a  Sophocles 
and  Aeschylus  combined  in  one  volume,  which  is 
now  in  the  Vatican  library  and  which  takes  pre- 
cedence of  all  other  authorities  for  priority  of 
origin  and  accuracy  of  reading. 

Vespasian  gives  to  one  of  his  heroes,  Niccolo 
Niccoli,  the  credit  of  having  secured  Pliny's  letters 
for  the  perusal  of  Italian  scholars.  News  had 
reached  him  of  a  perfect  copy  of  that  author  to  be 
found  in  a  convent  at  Lubeck.  The  intelligence 
is  passed  on  to  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  and  he,  setting 
a  relation  of  his  residing  in  the  neighbourhood  to 
work,  brought  such  pressure  to  bear  upon  the 
monks  that  he  secured  it  for  a  hundred  florins  of 
the  local  currency.  The  purchase  must  have  been 
a  surreptitious  one,  '  for  there  was  a  lot  of  trouble, 
graiidissiino  inconvenientc,  about  it  afterwards,' 
says  Vespasian,  '  both  to  the  monks  and  to  the 
agent  who  bought  it.'  Even  shadier  transactions, 
amounting  to  positive  theft,  characterized  the 
negotiations  for  other  books,  if  we  may  judge  by 
the  frequency  with  which  scholars,  who  obtained 
the  loan  of  some  manuscripts  from  their  new 
owners,  were  pledged  to  secrecy  as  to  their  place 
of  custody,  and  the  tardiness  with  which  import- 
ant new  discoveries  in  the  literary  world  were  some- 
times given  publication.  We  may  imagine  how 
painful  would  be  the  conflict  taking  place  in  such 
cases  in  the  mind  of  the  collector  between  prudence 
and  vanity,  between  the  desire  to  give  literary 
evidence  of  the  value  of  his  acquisition,  and  the  fear 
of  reclamations  from  an  indignant  former  owner. 
This  was  the  seamy  side  of  Quattrocento  book 
collecting.  Its  nobler  element  is  displayed  in  the 
readiness  with  which  the  Humanists,  when  no  such 
fears  oppressed  them,  put  their  libraries  at  the  dis- 
posal of  their  fellow-students.  It  was  not  every  one 
who,  like  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  could  build  and  furnish 
libraries  in  three  separate  localities  of  Florence, 
and  complain  at  the  end  of  the  year  if  the  drafts 
on  his  bank  showed  dilatoriness  on  the  part  of  the 
contractors  ;  but  greater  admiration  will  be  felt  by 
the  modern  book  collector  for  the  humble  scholars 
who,  being,  like  Coluccio  Salutati,  '  lords  of  their 
other  possessions,  but  the  slaves  of  their  books,' yet 
gave  their  fellow-students  the  run  of  their  libraries, 
upon  the  principle  that  works  which  were  written 
for  all  mankind's  enlightenment  should  be  placed 


Quattrocento  Book  Collecting 

unreservedly  at  its  service.  Such  generosity,  of 
course,  was  not  without  its  attendant  risks.  Aurispa, 
the  Sicilian  Greek  scholar  already  mentioned  for 
his  book-dealing  activity,  earned  a  most  unenviable 
notoriety  among  the  Humanists  by  his  dilatoriness 
in  returning  borrowed  books,  and  his  tricky  excuses 
that  he  was  under  the  impression  they  had  been 
presented.  To  this  was  added  marked  deficiency 
in  reciprocity,  so  that  Filelfo  had  to  tell  him  that 
he  knew  '  no  one  freer  in  accepting.literary  favours, 
or  more  stingy  in  granting  them.'  Voigt  singles 
him  out  as  a  specimen  of  the  collecting  spirit 
carried  to  its  furthest  expression — '  the  spirit  that 
possessed  books  only  to  possess  them,  and  that 
sold  them  when  an  exceptional  offer  would  give 
the  owner  the  means  of  securing  further  prizes.' 

It  is  probably  owing  to  Cosmo  de'  Medici's 
profitable  experience  of  the  leakage  that  went  on 
of  manuscripts  that  were  in  churchmen's  custody, 
that  a  mandate,  to  be  found  in  Gaye,  of  the 
Florentine  Signoria  was  issued  in  1441  to  the 
operarii  of  the  churches  and  convents  within  their 
jurisdiction,  calling  upon  all  such  institutions  as 
had  libraries,  whether  great  or  small,  to  have 
ready  within  two  months'  time  a  detailed 
catalogue  of  the  books  in  their  possession, 
the  accuracy  of  such  catalogue  to  be  certified  by  a 
public  notary.  Cosmo's  own  ideas  in  book  buy- 
ing were  on  such  an  extensive  scale,  that  they  far 
outran  the  scanty  stock  of  ancient  codices  with 
which  even  Vespasian  could  supply  him,  and  the 
bookseller's  corps  of  amanuenses,  to  the  number 
on  one  occasion  of  forty-five,  was  engaged  in  exe- 
cuting his  commissions.  The  great  book  collector's 
patronage  was  such  an  important  factor  in  every 
department  of  Florentine  art  that  his  revelations  to 
his  crony  Vespasian,  in  some  temporary  mood  of  ex- 
pansiveness,  of  the  motives  that  urged  him  to  his 
successive  building  projects,  are  of  exceptional 
interest.  His  remarkable  political  success  sprang 
mainly,  according  to  the  bookseller,  from  an  accu- 
rate diagnosis  of  his  fellow-citizens'  morbid  impa- 
tience of  pre-eminence  on  the  part  of  any  one  of 
their  number ;  a  failing  which  this  veiled  despot 
met  by  '  in  every  step  that  he  took  so  acting  that  it 
should  appear  to  proceed  from  another,  not  from 
himself.'  '  Envy,'  he  used  to  say,  'was  a  plant  grow- 
ing in  most  people's  gardens,  that  should  not  be 
watered,  but  allowed  to  wither,'  a  maxim,  it  will  be 
remembered,  that  found  practical  expression  in  his 
rejection  of  Brunelleschi's  too  magnificent  design 
for  his  own  dwelling.  But  this  fear  of  exciting 
envy,  or  becoming  too  prominent  among  his  fellow- 
citizens,  was  in  some  conspicuous  instances  over- 
mastered by  another  trait  in  his  character,  the 
Renascentine  passion  for  posthumous  fame,  which 
drove  him  at  all  risks  to  build  convents,  adorned 
with  sculpture  and  frescoes,  and  furnished  with 
costly  libraries,  and  to  express  to  Vespasian  his 
profound  regret  that  he  had  not  begun  spending 

361 


Quattrocento  Book  Qollecting 

money  over  buildings  ten  years  earlier  than  he 
had  done,  so  as  to  secure  for  himself  and  his 
family  that  '  laurel  crown  '  of  posthumous  celebrity 
which,  in  view  of  the  fleeting  nature  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen's  gratitude,  he  felt  would  now  be 
denied  them.  Florentine  gratitude  for  Cosmo's 
services  was  of  greater  tenacity  than  the  statesman 
credited  it  with  ;  but  Vespasian's  story  has  value 
for  its  forcible  presentment  of  the  glamour  exer- 
cised by  the  prospect  of  posthumous  fame  over 
Renascentine  imaginations,  and  its  emphatic  re- 
minder of  our  obligations  to  it  for  Renascentine 
masterpieces.  Vespasian  was  much  impressed  with 
the  tenacity  of  the  statesman's  own  memory,  and 
in  particular  with  his  ability  to  give  the  bookseller 
the  name,  'an  awful  German  name,'  of  the  former 


owner  of  a  book  he  wanted,  and  which  he  had  not 
seen  for  forty  years  previously.  Among  his  vines 
at  Careggi,  in  the  pruning  and  grafting  of  which, 
according  to  Vespasian,  he  was  a  skilful  and 
enthusiastic  operator,  the  great  burgher  could,  it 
is  pleasant  to  think,  find  relief  from  the  burden  of 
statecraft,  and  lay  aside  possibly  for  the  moment 
that  cynicism  which  his  low  opinion  of  human 
nature  imposed  upon  him.  Neither  Cosmo  nor 
his  son  was  fortunate  in  the  form  taken  by  their 
high  esteem  for  Donatello,  the  scniplicitii  of  whose 
nature,  to  use  Vasari's  expression,  rebelled  as 
strongly  against  the  superfine  clothing  given  him, 
Vespasian  tells  us,  by  the  former,  as  against  the 
agricultural  worries  attending  the  management  of 
the  farm  that  Piero  presented  him  with. 


^  NOTES  ON  VARIOUS  WORKS  OF  ART  d^ 


A  TERRA-COTTA   BUST   OF   THOMAS 
THIRD  EARL   OF    COVENTRY,  BY   JOHN 

MICHAEL  RYSBRACK 
In  these  days  the  value  is  being  gradually  more 
generally  recognized  of  the  models  in  terra-cotta, 
executed  by  sculptors  themselves,  as  compared 
with  the  works  completed  in  marble,  in  most  cases 
by  other  hands  than  those  of  the  original  designer. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  with  many  of  the 
admirable  busts  executed  in  England  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  the 
earlier  part  of  the  eighteenth.  Portrait-sculpture 
then  reached  a  high  pitch  of  excellence,  some  of 
the  leading  artists  being  English,  with  a  charac- 
teristic style  of  their  own,  though  the  best-known 
were  of  foreign  extraction,  such  as  Rysbrack, 
Scheemakers,  and  Roubillac. 

The  terra-cotta  busts  modelled  by  Roubillac 
have  for  long  been  admired  by  art-lovers  and 
critics,  and  have  met  with  something  like  due 
recognition.  Those  by  Rysbrack  are  probably  as 
numerous,  but  their  merits  have  not  been  so 
generally  perceived.  John  Michael  Rysbrack  was 
the  son  of  a  painter  at  Antwerp,  his  mother  being 
a  Frenchwoman.  He  therefore  combined  some- 
thing of  the  great  Flemish  tradition  with  the  verve 
of  the  French  temperament,  which  latter  quality 
was  to  be  seen  in  later  days  in  the  work  of 
Roubillac.  Rysbrack  came  to  England  about 
1710,  when  about  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  and 
was  noted  for  his  skill  as  a  modeller  in  clay. 
Before  long  he  became  the  leading  sculptor  in 
London,  and  the  recipient  of  numberless  com- 
missions for  statues,  monuments,  and  busts, 
enjoying  a  vogue  which  lasted  until  the  rise 
of  Scheemakers  and  Roubillac,  as  serious  com- 
petitors. Among  other  works  Rysbrack  exe- 
cuted a  bust  of  Charles  I  from  a  study  of  portraits 
by  Van  Dyck  and  a  cast  of  the  famous  bust  by 
Bernini.  This  bust  of  Charles  I  maybe  the  origin 
of  numerous  later  copies  which  are  to  be  found  in 
many  places.     It  seems  most  probable  that  it  was 

362 


Rysbrack  who  executed  the  fine  bust  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  in  the  House  of  Commons,  which  is 
falsely  attributed  to  Bernini.  Some  little  time 
ago  there  was  discovered  in  a  secluded  corner  at 
Badminton,  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort,  a 
small  bust  of  a  youth,  which  was  inscribed  on  the 
back  'Thomas,  Earl  of  Covenh-y,  Aetatis  sua  X.' 
The  bust,  which  measures  about  19^  inches  in 
height  and  13  inches  across  the  shoulders,  is 
modelled  in  terra-cotta,  which  was  covered  with 
thick  coats  of  discoloured  paint.  The  coats  of 
paint  having  been  removed  by  Messrs.  Brucciani 
and  Co.,  the  original  handiwork  of  the  artist 
became  revealed,  and  his  signature,  '  Mich.  Rys- 
brack,' was  found  on  the  base.  The  bust  is  a 
singularly  attractive  and  pleasing  portrait  of  a 
child  at  that  date.  A  pathetic  interest  attaches 
itself  to  the  bust.  In  May,  1691,  Thomas  Coventry, 
afterwards  Viscount  Deerhurst,  married  Lady 
Anne  Somerset,  daughter  of  the  first  Duke  of 
Beaufort,  and  in  1699  he  succeeded  his  father  as 
second  Earl  of  Coventry.  In  August,  1710,  the 
Earl  of  Coventry  died,  leaving  his  widow  with  an 
only  child,  who  succeeded  his  father  as  third  Earl 
of  Coventry,  but  died  at  Eton  College  on  28th 
January,  171 1,  in  his  tenth  year.  It  is  this 
boy  of  whom  the  bust  here  reproduced  is  a  portrait. 
Widowed  and  childless,  the  Countess  of  Coventry 
returned  to  Badminton  and  her  own  family.  For 
more  than  fifty  years  she  survived  her  husband 
and  child,  and  at  her  decease  she  left  her  property 
to  the  Duke  of  Beaufort.  Rysbrack  was  employed 
to  make  for  Badminton  busts  in  terra-cotta  of  the 
second  and  third  Dukei  of  Beaufort.  On  one  of 
these  occasions  he  must  have  been  employed  by 
the  Countess  of  Coventry  to  make  this  bust  of  her 
son  as  a  memorial  of  her  great  sorrow. 

A  resemblance  in  style  between  this  bust  of  the 
Earl  of  Coventry  and  the  anonymous  terra-cotta 
bust  of  John  Hampden,  in  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery,  seems  to  point  to  the  latter  bust  being  also 
the  work  of  J.  M.  Rysbrack.  LIONEL  CuST. 


n  y 


ly' 


Notes  on  Various  Works  of  Art 


GIULIO     CAMPAGNOLAi 

Less  than  a  score  of  engravings  and  two  or  three 
drawings  make  up  the  whole  accredited  work  of 
GiuHo  Campagnola,  but  these  and  the  few  facts 
that  are  known  about  his  Hfe  suiSce  to  lend  great 
fascination  to  the  study  of  his  personality.      Born 
of  a  learned  father  in  Padua  about   1482,  Giulio 
grew  to  be  a  youth  of  wonderful  versatility  and 
promise,  reaping  much  praise,  while   still    under 
seventeen,  for  his  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Hebrew 
no  less  than  for  his  skill  as  painter,  miniaturist, 
engraver  and  musician.     In  1498  he  was  attached 
to  the  court  of  Ercole  I,  at  Ferrara  ;  in  1507  he  is 
working  in  Venice.     The  last  notice  we  possess  of 
his  life  occurs  in  the  will  of  the  famous  publisher, 
Aldo  Manuzio  (i6th  Jan.,  1515),  which  contains  a 
clause  requesting  his  executors  to  have  some  new 
cursive  type  cut  by  Giulio  Campagnola  (a  practice 
in  which  he  had  a  distinguished  predecessor  in 
Francesco  Francia).   If  there  is  any  further  limiting 
evidence  to  the  date  of  his  activity,  it  may  be  found 
in  one  of   the  prints  added  by  Dr.  Kristeller  to 
Galichon's   list,-— /.e.,  the  Tivo  Nndc   Women   (an 
allegory  on  life  and  death).     It  is  a  copy  after  an 
undated  print  by  Ludwig  Krug,  which  can  hardly 
be  earlier  than  1516.     That  Giulio's  death  probably 
occurred  within  a  few  years  of  this  date  seems  to  me 
to  find  its  chief  support  in  the  circumstance  that  the 
plate  of  Shepherds  in  a  Landscape  (P.K.  9)  was  only 
brought  to  completion  by  Domenico  Campagnola, 
who  was  Giulio's  artistic  heir,  though  the  family 
connexion   remains  unestablished.       The   figures 
added  by  Domenico  are  absolutely  in  the  manner 
of  the  engravings  which  he  dated   in  the   years 
1517-18,  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  addi- 
tion  was   made   about   the   same   period.      It   is 
scarcely   probable,  however,  that  he  would  have 
done  it  during  Giulio's  lifetime.    In  the  same  con- 
nexion it  may  be  noted  that  one  of  the  few  draw- 
ings attributed  with  certainty  to  Giulio  is  a  study 
for  this  print  in  Paris.      Dr.  Kristeller  has  good 
reason,  I  think,  to  reject    the  supposed  original 
study  for  the  engraving  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  (a 
magnificent  figure  of  Mantegna's  dignity,  set  in  a 
Giorgionesque  landscape),  which  is   now   in   the 
Iicole    des    Beaux-Arts,    Paris    (formerly   in    the 
Galichon  collection).      There  is  little  doubt  that 
other  drawings  by  Giulio  remain  to  be  discovered 
under  the  names  of  Titian,  Giorgione,  Domenico 
Campagnola,  Basaiti,  or  what  not.     An  excellent 
example   was    recently   afforded    by   Mr.    Sidney 
Colvin  in  his  publication  of  the  Oxford  Drawings. 
Considering  the  reports  of  Giulio's  versatility,  one 
almost  expects  discoveries  of  his  work  in  other 
mediums  under  alien   names,   but   Dr.   Kristeller 

'Graphische  Gesellschaft,  V.  Veiofl'entlichung.  Giulio 
Campagnola.  Kupferstiche  und  Zeichniingen.  22  Taleln  in 
Heliogravure  iind  5  Tafeln  in  Lichfdruck.  Herausgegebeii 
von   Paul   Kristeller.     Berlin   (Bruno  Cassircr),  1907. 

"  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts,'  xiii,  233  (including  14  Nos.). 


does  no  more  than  tentatively  suggest  his  author- 
ship of  the  Visitation  in  the  Academy  at  Venice 
(No.  95  ;  phot.  Anderson  ;  labelled  Titian). 

To  approach  Dr.   Kristeller's  catalogue  (which 
includes  twenty  numbers)  more  closely,  I  am  able 
to   accept,   without    qualification,  sixteen   of   the 
eighteen  reproduced,  the  last  two  (Nos.  19  and  20), 
St.  Genevieve  (Liechtenstein  Coll.,  Vienna)  and  a 
Landscape  ivith  a  Shepherd  and  a  Woman  playing  a 
F/nie  (Budapest,  National  Gallery),  being  unknown 
to  me,  and  in  fact  not  at  present  to  be  found  in  the 
collections  where  they  were  noted  some  years  ago 
by  Dr.  Kristeller.    I  cannot  accept  No.  10,  a  Youtli 
seated  gazing  at  a  Death's  Head,  the  artistic  quality 
and  technical   character  of  which  seem  to  be  far 
nearer  to   a  Nativity  of  the  Campagnola  school 
signed  F  M    1515  (B  XIII  367,   i).     Though   the 
manner   of   engraving   is   directly   influenced   by 
Giulio,   I   do    not  feel  that  he  could  have  been 
responsible  for  such  second-rate  work  even  in  his 
earliest  period.     Then  No.   16  (Leda)  appears  to 
be  the  work  of  an  engraver  of  far  less  exquisite 
sense   of   landscape   and   line   than  Giulio  Cam- 
pagnola.    Although  both  technique  and  landscape 
present  analogies  with  the  authentic  work,  I  cannot 
see  that  they  are  nearer  to  the  master  than  in  a 
print  of  Cupid  on  Horseback,  signed  JF  (B  XV,  536, 
2).     In  spite  of  the  undoubted  influence  of  Giulio, 
the  Leda  might  even  be  the  work  of  a  Roman  en- 
graver, and  is  distinctly  nearer  to  Agostino  Ven- 
eziano  (who  was  a  close  follower  of  Giulio  before 
he  joined  the  school  of  Marcantonio  in  Rome) 
than  to  Giulio  himself.     An  exaggeration  of  some 
of    the   characteristics   in    the   treatment    of    the 
background    may    be    noted    in   an    anonymous 
Adoration  of  the  Magi  n'ith  the  Castle  of  St.  Angela 
(B  XIII  73,  I). 

The  technical  character  of  Giulio's  engraved 
work  is  of  particular  interest,  and  I  would  claim 
indulgence  in  limiting  further  discussion  to  this 
one  point.  Dr.  Kristeller  has  carefully  traced  the 
development  from  his  purer  line  work  through 
the  combination  of  line  and  dot  to  the  latest 
prints,  in  which  dotting  is  the  almost  exclusive 
medium;  but  I  do  not  think  that  sufficient  emphasis 
is  laid  on  the  exact  nature  of  what  is  termed 
'dot-work.'  Writers  have  often  referred  to 
Campagnola's  dotted  manner  as  an  anticipation  of 
stipple.  In  a  loose  sense  it  is  so — i.e.,  in  so  far  as 
both  attempt  to  achieve  the  soft  gradations  of 
tone  (impressed  on  Campagnola  by  Giorgione)  by 
means  of  dotting  with  the  point  of  the  graver. 

In  the  strict  sense,  however,  stipple  includes 
the  preliminary  etching  in  pure  dot  (made  by  the 
needle  point  through  the  ground),  before  the  work 
is  enforced  by  the  minute  flicks  made  by  the 
stipple  graver.  Campagnola's  '  dot-work  '  is  almost 
exclusively  this  flick  work,  and  was  probably  done 
with  the  ordinary  graver.  In  one  or  two  instances 
the  work  is  so  delicate  {e.g.,  the  Child  with  three 


Notes  on  T^arious  Works  of  Art 

Cats,  P.K.  7,  and  the  Nude  IVoiitan  reclining,  P.K. 
13)  that  the  flicks  can  scarcely  be  distinguished 
from  pure  dots.  In  the  latter  and  in  the  Stag 
(P.K.  14),  it  is  possible  that  Giulio  even  worked 
with  the  punch,  at  least  for  his  outlines  (which 
are  like  a  series  of  dots).  Scarcely  anything  was 
done  in  the  whole  range  of  the  eighteenth-century 
stipple  which  can  at  all  compare  with  the  won- 
derful tone  of  the  Woman  nxliiiing,  in  which 
Giulio  may  have  even  used  the  aid  of  acid, 
brushed  on  the  surface,  to  attain  the  wonderful 
softness  of  the  Giorgionesque  haze.  As  I  have 
referred  to  the  exact  relation  of  the  flick  work  and 
stipple,  I  would  add  that  a  curious  example  of 
pure  etched  dotted  work  (which  forms  the  other 
of  the  two  elements  of  stipple)  may  be  noted  in 
a  Cleopatra  dated  1547  (B.  5)  by  an  early  German 
etcher,  Augustin  Hirschvogel,  who  is  chiefly  known 
for  his  landscape.  The  plate  has  a  particular 
interest  here  on  account  of  a  possible  relation 
in  its  drawing  to  some  lost  composition  by 
Giorgione  or  Giulio  Campagnola,  although  the 
design,  as  transferred,  has  all  the  German  awk- 
wardness of  pose. 

It  is  a  pity  that  Dr.  Kristeller's  excellent  pub- 
lication, which  reproduces  practically  the  whole 
of  Giulio  Campagnola's  vi^ork  in  perfect  facsimile, 


is  not  separately  obtainable.  The  circulation  is 
limited  to  members  of  the  Graphical  Society 
(Berlin),  a  subscription  of  30  marks  entitling 
the  members  to  the  two  or  three  publications' 
annually  issued.  The  first  year  (1906)  included 
(i)  the  masterly  series  of  woodcuts  after  Titian, 
entitled  the  Tiinmph  of  Faith,  (2)  the  Heidelberg 
'Biblia  Pauperum'  (perhaps  the  earliest  block-book 
of  this  nature),  (3)  Albrecht  Altdorfer's  landscape 
etchings ;  the  second  (1907),  (4)  three  further 
block-books  of  the  Heidelberg  University  Library, 
(i)  '  Decalogus,'  (ii)  '  Septimania  Poenalis,'  (iii) 
'  Symbolum  Apostolicum,'  and  (5)  the  Campagnola 
here  reviewed.  Announcements  include  'The 
earliest  Woodcuts  in  the  Berlin  Print  Room,' 
'  Exercitium  super  Pater  Noster'  (after  the  unique 
impression  of  the  earliest  edition  in  Paris),  and 
the  '  Incunabula  of  German  Etching.'  The 
names  of  Friedliinder  and  Pauli,  beside  Kristeller, 
amongst  the  editors,  assure  scholarly  publications. 
A  work  .of  the  critical  value  and  the  artistic 
beauty  of  Dr.  Kristeller's  '  Campagnola '  should 
attract  many  intending  members  to  communicate 
with  Mr.  G.  F.  Barwick,  of  the  British  Museum, 
who  is  the  Society's  honorary  secretary  for 
England. 
'Issued  with  German  text. 


A.  M.  Hind. 


^  LETTERS  TO  THE  EDITOR 


c$^ 


THE  MEDALLIST  LYSIPPUS 

To  the  Editor  of  THE  BURLINGTON  MAGAZINE. 

Sir, — A  clue  to  the  further  identity  of  the  medal- 
list Lysippus,  whose  work  is  described  by  Mr. 
G.  F.  Hill  in  The  Burlington  Magazine  for 
August,  may  possibly  be  found  in  the  two  leaves 
of  distinctive  shape  (?  a  rebus)  which  appear  on 
some  of  the  artist's  medals. 

I  write  under  correction  from  the  botanical 
standpoint,  but  to  the  heraldist  it  would  seem 
beyond  doubt  that  these  are  not,  as  was  stated,  ivy 
but  rather  poplar  leaves  :  Ital.  foglie  di  ^ioppo  ; 
Lat.  popu\e^  folia  ;  Hisp.  />aneles  ;  Gall,  ^anelles. 
It  is  seen  that  the  initial  italicised  in  these  cases  is 
that  which  may  stand  for  Lysippus's  surname  (?) 
in  the  signature  L.P.,  also  upon  more  than  one  of 
his  productions. 

As  regards  Francisco  Vidal  de  Noia,  for  whom 
Lysippus  P  .  .  .  worked  :  quarterings  2-3  of  his 
arms  are  given  as  '  checquy '  (p.  275)  ;  they  are 
apparently  bends  embattled.  The  coat  of  Sicily 
(di  la  del  Faro)  was  in  all  probability  granted 
Vidal  as  a  royal  augmentation  by  P'erdinand  as 
king  of  Sicily,  between  1468  and  1479,  and  before 
his  accession  to  the  Aragonese  crown,  also  in  the 
latter  year. 

So  far  from  the  treatment  of  the  arms  upon  the 
reverse  of  one  of  Vidal's  medals  (pi.  I,  6)  being 
'rather  Spanish  than    Italian,' there  would  appear 

366 


to  be  nothing  distinctively  Spanish  in   the  design 

that  might  not  also  be  South  Italian  at  this  epoch. 

ist  August,  1908.  V.  D.  P. 

JEWELLERY 
To  the  Editor  of  The  BURLINGTON  MAGAZINE. 

Sir, — In  the  review  of  my  work  'Jewellery'  in 
your  August  number  (pp.  294-5),  your  reviewer 
states  : 

'  Scarcely  less  grotesque  is  the  passage  devoted 
to  the  introduction  of  cloisonne  enamelling  into 
the  West :  a  whole  literature  may  be  said  to  have 
collected  round  this  point,  although  it  has  only 
supplied  Mr.  Smith  with  one  reference  in  a  foot- 
note, and  that,  it  will  scarcely  be  believed,  is  to 
no  more  recondite  a  work  than  J.  R.  Green's 
"Short  History  of  the  English  People."  ' 

I  must  protest  against  the  construction  your 
reviewer  places  upon  my  reference  to  Green, 
which  is  what  it  is  intended  to  be,  a  reference  to 
a  standard  authority  for  a  succinct  yet  adequate 
statement  of  the  penetration  of  N.W.  and  Central 
Europe  by  Irish  influences.  The  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  your  reviewer's  remark  that  Green's 
is  the  only  reference  afforded  by  the  portion  of 
my  work  dealing  with  the  subject  in  question  is 
(to  put  it  very  mildly  indeed)  misleading;  in 
pp.  66-74,  devoted  to  late  Anglo-Saxon  jewellery— 
the  one  off-shoot  of  transplanted  cloisonne  in  the 


Letters  to  the  Editor 


Occident  there  treated  on — will  be  found  cited  : 
Professor  Earle,  Mr.  Reginald  Smith  (in  the 
'  Victoria  County  History  of  Somerset '),  Mr.  O.  M. 
Dalton  (in  the  '  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries ')  and  M.  Molinier. 

Your  reviewer  loses  all  sense  of  proportion, 
such  is  his  anxiety  to  find  fault  :  after  stating  that 
my  work  'aims  at  covering  too  much  ground  in 
too  small  a  space,'  and  this  can  hardly  in  fairness 
be  imputed  as  a  fault  to  the  author  of  a  volume 
forming  part  of  a  series,  he  condemns  my  omission 
(intentional  and  necessitated  in  the  circumstances) 
of  such  minutiae  as  the  more  recent  discoveries  of 
Egyptian  jewellery,  and  problems  connected  with 
that  of  the  Phoenicians.  I  really  wonder  whether 
a  discussion  of  the  '  dozen  burning  archaeological 
questions'  he  informs  us  are  involved  in  the  latter 
would  have  been  possible  in  my  work,  and,  if  they 
had,  would  the  book  have  been  the  right  place  for 
them  ? 


Finally  I  should  like  to  remind  him,  in  the 
matter  of  his  strictures  upon  my  treatment  of  the 
rise  of  cloisonn6  in  the  West,  that  a  book  upon 
jewellery  ought  not,  necessarily,  to  comprise  com- 
plete treatises  upon  the  history  of  every  branch  of 
technique  which  has  happened  to  be  employed  in 
jewellery  production.  Considering  that  a  whole 
volume  of  the  'Connoisseur's  Library'  is  devoted 
to  enamels,  your  reviewer's  sense  of  the  fitness 
of  things  might  have  suggested  to  him  that  the 
special  volume  on  enamels  was  properly  the  place 
for  that  extended  treatment  of  the  cloisonne 
question  which  he  expects  of  the  jewellery 
volume  (though  here,  as  I  have  already  pointed 
out,  he  has  inconsistently  blamed  me  for 
endeavouring  to  cover  too  much  ground  in  too 
small  a  space),  and  for  the  whole  literature  of 
the  subject,  the  absence  of  which  he  deplores. 
Yours  obediently, 

H.  Clifford  Smith. 


:A^  ART  IN  GERMANY.  AUSTRIA  AND   SWITZERLAND  rx, 


THE  GERMAN   'SALONS'  OF  THE  YEAR 

1Q08 
The  art  exhibitions  at  Dresden  have  occupied  a 
special  rank  among  the  'salons'  of  Germany  ever 
since  their  reorganization  under  Kuehl  in  the  year 
1897.  They  are  not  annual  functions,  like  those  at 
Munich  and  Berlin,  but  they  were  distinguished 
from  the  very  first  by  two  features,  which  have  of 
late  been  adopted  by  other  cities  to  a  certain  extent. 
They  were  wonderfully  select,  as  contrasted  with 
the  huge  shows  that  were  brought  together  every 
year  in  the  Glaspalast  at  Munich,  and  at  the 
Lehrter  Bahnhof  in  Berlin.  Again,  an  amount  of 
attention  was  paid  to  the  tiiise-cn-scaie,  which 
was  up  till  then  altogether  unknown.  Every  one 
of  Kuehl's  exhibitions — the  present  one  is  the 
fifth — improved  upon  its  forerunner  in  this  re- 
spect. The  technique  of  arranging  a  fine  art 
show,  so  as  to  allow  everything  to  appear  to  the 
very  best  advantage,  and  so  as  to  introduce  a 
degree  of  variety  which  prevents  the  visitors  from 
ever  tiring,  has  been,  in,  course  of  these  eleven 
years,  brought  to  perfection  at  Dresden. 

The  contrast  between  the  present  exhibition 
and  those  which  were  formerly  current  in 
Germany — or,  for  that  matter,  are  still  current 
in  England  and  France — is  enormous.  Kuehl 
has  done,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  factor 
during  this  last  decade  has  effected  towards  lead- 
ing German  artists  away  from  the  theatrical, 
gallery  style  of  painting,  and  inducing  them  to 
work  with  an  eve  to  the  demands  of  a  home 
instead  of  a  public  museum.  The  huge  canvases, 
with  allegorical  or  historical  subjects,  the  monu- 
mental biblical  paintings,  have  all  but  disappeared 
— simply  because  there  is  not  any  place  to  hang 
them  any  longer.      At  the  Dresden    Exhibition 


this  year,  the  palace  has  been  divided  up  into 
some  fifty  rooms,  such  as  you  would  expect  to  see 
in  any  private  residence.  The  height  of  the  walls 
— that  is,  the  hanging  space — is  in-all  cases,  with 
but  one  exception,  that  of  an  ordinary  room. 
Except  etchings,  water  colours,  small  sketches 
and  the  like,  all  pictures  are  hung  in  single  line, 
not  close  together,  and  they  are  hung  lower  than 
one  has  ever  seen  them  before,  except  at  Vienna, 
with  the  lower  side  of  the  frame  about  two-and-a- 
half  feet  above  the  floor.  The  prevailing  tones 
of  the  walls  are  a  neutral  grey  and  white ;  the 
floors  are  carpeted  with  dark,  mostly  black,  mat- 
ting. The  ceiling  is  almost  always  a  thin  cotton 
velum,  which  allows  plenty  of  light  to  find  its 
way  through  it.  Contrary  to  the  old,  stagey 
method  of  lighting,  which  kept  the  middle  of  the 
room,  where  the  visitors  are,  dark,  and  threw  a 
flood  of  light  on  the  walls,  the  light  falls  here 
into  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  the  walls  where 
the  pictures  hang  are  somewhat  subdued  in  tone. 
There  is  not  one  picture  in  a  thousand,  now  that 
the  days  of  plcin-air  are  gone,  which  does  not 
lose  some  of  its  effect  when  placed  under  a 
garish,  strong  light. 

The  large  central  hall  was  again  reserved  for 
sculptures,  as  before.  It  was  transformed,  this 
time,  into  a  sort  of  cloister,  or  arcaded  court. 
The  arches  of  the  cloister  framed,  as  it  were,  the 
statues  placed  under  them,  or  the  reliefs  set  in  the 
wall  at  their  back. 

The  black-and-white  department — which  was 
entrusted  to  the  present  writer — was  arranged  on 
similar  lines  of  simplicity,  and  with  the  intention 
of  presenting  the  etchings,  etc.,  to  the  public 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  engage  its  attention. 
Usually  people  hardly   look    at    the    black-and- 

EE  367 


Art  in  Germany 

white,  because  there  is  too  much  of  it,  and 
it  is  hung  in  a  bewildering  medley  of  different 
frames.  There  are  only  six  small  black-and- 
white  rooms  here,  and  they  house  three  hundred 
works  upon  a  wall  space  that  elsewhere  is  made 
to  harbour  at  least  double  the  number.  A  strip 
of  plate  glass,  about  a  yard  and  a  half  high, 
runs  along  two  sides  of  each  room.  (The  rooms 
are  side-lighted  ;  the  walls  opposite  the  windows 
are  decorated  with  furniture,  porcelain,  bronzes, 
etc.,  but  not  with  prints  or  drawings,  because  the 
windows  opposite  would  reflect  too  strongly  in 
the  glass.)  The  proofs  and  drawings  are  exhibited 
in  very  large  sunk  mounts  under  this  glass  strip  : 
in  fact  the  mounts  seem  like  one  continuous 
mount  that  runs  along  the  room.  The  colour  of 
the  mount  varies  in  the  different  rooms.  One  of 
these  is  reserved  for  original  drawings,  another  for 
black-and-white  lithographs,  the  third  for  etchings 
and  lithographs  in  colour,  a  fourth  for  etchings  in 
line,  a  fifth  for  etchings  in  tone,  the  last  for  wood- 
cuts. The  work  of  every  artist  is  kept  together, 
and  not  scattered  over  walls  or  even  rooms,  as  at 
other  places. 

As  for  the  exhibits  themselves,  the  average 
standard  is  excellent.  If  there  are  not  so  many 
extraordinarily  fine  works  on  view  as  one  may 
have  seen  upon  former  occasions,  one  certainly 
never  has  seen  a  show  with  fewer  poor  or  even 
indifferent  pictures  than  here.  Frequenters  of 
German  exhibitions  may  find  a  good  many  paint- 
ings that  they  have  already  seen  elsewhere  in 
Germany  :  that  is  an  unavoidable  result  of  the 
circumstance  that  the  last  Fine  Art  Exhibition  at 
Dresden  was  held  as  long  as  four  years  ago. 

The  house  is  divided  up  between  the  two  artists' 
societies  which  in  Germany  correspond  to  what 
in  Paris  are  known  as  the  members  of  the  'old' 
and  the  'new'  'salon.'  Each  party  has  included 
some  one-man  shows  in  their  exhibits.  Among 
the  most  notable  we  find  the  local  artists  Sterl 
(who  excels  in  portraiture  and  landscape),  Bantzer 
and  Ritter,  R.  Miiller,  O.  Zwintscher,  W.  Claudius, 
G.  Kuehl  (his  two  exhibition  rooms  are  a  clever 
copy  of  his  studio  at  the  Dresden  Academy), 
E.  Bracht,  and  E.  Hegenbarth  ;  further,  hailing 
from  elsewhere,  Fr.  Aug.  Kaulbach,  W.  Triibner, 
L.  V.  Hofmann,  L.  von  Kalckreuth,  M.  Slevogt, 
W.  Leistikovv  and  M.  Liebermann.  Regulations 
were  waived  in  favour  of  the  last-named,  and  there 
is  a  splendid  exhibition  of  his  paintings  covering 
the  labour  of  about  thirty  years,  instead  of  the  ten 
which  are  the  rule. 

Besides  its  own  strength,  the  Dresden  exhibi- 
tion has  two  special  'outside'  attractions.  The 
one  is  a  fine  show  of  eighteenth-century  Japanese 
fine  and  applied  art,  netsukes,  lacquer-work, 
armour,  bronzes,  carvings  and  colour-prints. 
The  other  is  a  historical  exhibition  of  Art  under 
the  Saxon  Electors,  A.D.  1547  to  1806.   An  account 

368 


which  would  do  justice  to  this  carefully  arranged 
exhibition  would  of  itself  occupy  several  pages. 
The  loan  exhibition  has  been  brought  together 
from  many  royal  castles,  the  palaces  of  the  Saxon 
nobility,  various  private  collections  and  public 
museums,  among  which  latter  the  Cluny  at  Paris 
figures. 

The  Hessian  Fine  Art  Exhibition  at  Darmstadt 
might  well  have  been  still  more  exclusive  than  it 
is,  and  might  have  been  restricted  altogether  either 
to  artists  of  Hessian  nationality  living  at  home  and 
abroad  or  to  artists  living  in  Hessia,  whether  born 
Hessians  or  not.  As  it  is,  the  national  aspect  of 
the  exhibition,  which  was  to  have  been  its  charac- 
teristic feature,  has  been  slightly  blurred.  The 
principal  building  was  erected  by  Olbrich,'  who  has 
wisely  profited  by  his  own  experience  at  Vienna 
ten  years  ago,  and  by  the  experience  of  others 
during  the  past  decade.  The  building  for  applied 
art,  by  Albin  Miiller,  shows  an  interesting  attempt 
at  terra-cotta  architecture  in  an  open  entrance 
court ;  the  sculptor  Heinrich  Jobst  assisted  A. 
Miiller  herein. 

The  most  interesting  part  of  the  exhibition  cer- 
tainly is  the  small  '  village  of  labourers'  cottages.' 
Some  of  these  cost,  completely  furnished,  not  more 
than  about  ;^250.  The  architects  were  Olbrich, 
Rings,  Mahr  and  Metzendorf. 

Among  the  painters  and  sculptors,  L.  v.  Hof  man  n 
has  contributed  a  specially  interesting  show  :  six 
large  tempera-paintings  (decorations  for  a  hall  at 
Nauheim),  a  large  number  of  sketches  and  studies 
done  on  his  trip  to  Greece,  which  he  undertook  in 
company  with  the  dramatist  Gerhard  Hauptmann, 
and  designs  for  the  scenery  of  Maeterlinck's 
'Aglavaine  and  Selysette,'  as  it  is  to  be  produced 
at  the  Deutsches  Theater  in  Berlin  next  season. 

The  landscape  painter,  E.  Bracht  (now  of 
Dresden),  further  O.  H.  Engel,  C.  Kiistner,  P.  O. 
Schiifer,  O.  Ubbelohde  ;  among  sculptors,  Cauer 
and  August  Gaul ;  in  the  black-and-white  depart- 
ment Kleukens  and  Schmoll  von  Eisenwerth  have 
also  sent  especially  notable  collections  of  their 
recent  work  this  year  to  Darmstadt. 

The  fifteenth  exhibition  of  the  Secession  at 
Berlin  rather  surprises  one  this  year,  and  that  not 
exactly  agreeably  ;  last  year  the  best  show  of  the 
season  was  to  be  seen  here.  There  is  so  much  of 
the  aggressively  unlovely  and,  if  I  may  be  allowed 
the  expression,  militantly  modern  hung  upon 
these  walls  that  we  feel  set  back  a  decade  or  so, 
when  the  strife  between  the  old  and  the  new 
schools  was  at  its  highest,  and  the  modern  men 
were  driven  to  the  extreme  of  out-Heroding  Herod, 
in  order  to  counteract  the  untractable  tenacity  of 
the  conservative  contingent.  Elsewhere,  each  ex- 
treme has  calmed  down,  and  one  has  become 
accustomed  to  exhibitions  which  do  not  betray  at 

'  Since  the  above  was  written,  Olbrich  has  died. 


Art  in  Qermany 


a  first  glance  to  which  camp  the  members  belong. 
But  this  year's  Berlin  Secession  signifies  a  step 
backward,  it  seems  to  me,  and  it  is  full  of  offen- 
sively biased  art.  The  queer  thing  about  most 
of  these  pictures  is,  that  whereas  their  painters 
generally  desire  to  pass  their  vagaries  off  on  the 
score  of  modernity,  the  tendency  in  them  is  not 
really  modern.  For  it  is  one  of  the  strong  axioms 
of  modern  ait  that  the  artist  should  bear  in  mind 
the  practical  application  of  his  work,  whatever  it 
may  be.  But  even  such  a  picture  as  Tewes's  Wonan 
Asleep,  a  fine  study  of  a  nude  within  an  excellent 
symphony  of  blue  and  green  draperies,  is  to  be 
appreciated  only  when  you  can  get  about  twenty 
yards  away  from  it,  as  you  can  do  here,  but  never 
in  a  private  house  ;  for  some  such,  however,  it 
must  have  been  painted.  Munch  and  Van  Gogh 
remain  to  me  as  unfanciable  as  ever,  and  they  are 
greatly  in  evidence  here,  along  with  similarly 
crude  landscape  work  by  von  Brockhusen,  M. 
Denis,  Dufren.oy,  A.Metz,  H.Nauen,  C.  Herrmann. 
M.  Brandenburg's  Loge  is  simply  silly.  O.  Hettner, 
now  in  Florence,  contributes  a  huge  canvas,  Der 
Aiifbrncli,  whereon  yellow  and  blue  men,  who 
have  the  appearance  of  diagrams  of  the  human 
muscular  system,  and  are  cast  into  poses  such  as 
raving  lay-figures  might  fall  into,  stand  out  against 
a  green  sky,  with  yellow  eggy  spots  and  pink 
mountains  1  R.  Treumann  has  sent  three  small 
pictures  of  oafs,  idiots,  cretins,  that  are  merely 
repulsive,  pathological  caricatures.  Nor  does  the 
brutal,  pseudo-Rubens  vein  of  L.  Corinth,  who 
delights  in  the  coarsest  kind  of  painting  the  nude 
figure,  add  to  the  pleasures  to  be  found  here. 
Such  manifestations  of  untempered  savageness — 
H.  Hofmann,  H.  Nauen,  Beckmann,  go  pretty 
well  in  harness  with  Corinth — do  not  seem  to  me 
truly  in  keeping  with  '  modern '  feeling.  There 
certainly  is  a  great  deal  of  talent  in  evidence  in 
this  kind  of  work ;  and  strength,  even  where  it 
is  barbaric,  is  always  preferable  to  the  shallow 
pretty-pretty.  But  the  latter  has  been  fairly  anni- 
hilated long  ago,  and  what  is  the  use  of  bringing 
up  a  battery  against  an  enemy  who  has  long 
since  disappeared  ?  The  height  of  bad  taste  is 
embodied  in  a  large  picture,  which  offers  the  real- 
istic representation  of  a  woman  in  labour — and 
this  was  painted  by  a  lady  1 

Such  work  as  I  have  mentioned,  although 
giving  the  Berlin  Secession  show  a  distinct 
character,  of  course  by  no  means  makes  up  the 
majority  of  the  exhibits.  Quiet,  low-toned  por- 
traits and  still-life  pictures  have  always  been 
specially  fostered  by  the  Berlin  Secession:  Triib- 
ner,  Linde-VValther,  Pankok,  Groeber,  E.  Oppler 
have  sent  beautiful  specimens  of  the  former,  Triib- 
ner,  H.  Hubner,  M.  A.  Stremel  of  the  latter. 
Leistikow's  -  landscapes    are  always   of   the  very 

^  This  fine  artist  likewise  lias  succumbed,  since  these  lines 
were  written. 


first  order ;  the  illness  which  has  caused  him 
much  suffering  as  a  man  seems  to  have  left  the 
capacities  of  the  artist  untouched.  W.  Hoffmann 
and  U.  Hubner  almost  attain  to  like  beauty. 
Orlik's  extremely  lovely  picture  of  a  nude  girl  is 
as  delicate  and  refined  a  piece  of  flesh-painting  as 
is  imaginable.  The  coloration  has  some  of  the 
enamel  qualities  of  a  miniature.  But  the  breadth 
of  conception  in  the  pose,  the  modelling  and 
especially  the  lighting  of  the  subject  keep  it  from 
becoming  weak. 

Among  the  sculptures,  the  remarkable  types  of 
Russian  peasants  by  Barlach  and  marble  figures 
by  R.  Engelmann  and  P.  Poppelmann  deserve 
especial  notice,  as  do  likewise  the  excellent  modern 
porcelain  figures  by  Pottner  of  Berlin. 

The  clou  of  the  exhibition  is  supposed  to  be  the 
show  of  Leibl's  work,  which  is  displayed  in  the 
room  that  last  year  contained  the  work  of 
the  society's  president,  Liebermann.  Leibl  does 
seem  just  a  little  out  of  place  in  an  exhibition 
which  is  so  loud  as  this  one.  However,  he  is 
welcome  everywhere,  and  if  the  Berlin  Secession 
agrees  in  the  general  estimate,  which  places  him 
among. the  six  foremost  German  nineteenth-century 
painters,  we  may  be  surprised,  but  should  not 
quarrel  with  them  on  that  score. 

The  'Grosse  Kunstausstellung'  at  the  exhibition 
palace  near  the  Lehrter  railway  station,  always  the 
most  catholic  among  the  German  shows,  runs 
about  upon  the  same  lines  as  its  predecessor  last 
year.  The  general  plan  of  the  rooms  has  scarcely 
been  modified,  and  whatever  new  decorations  or 
dispositions  there  may  be,  they  are  in  no  wise  at 
variance  with  what  one  is  accustomed  to  at  this 
place.  The  black-and-white  department  is  not 
equal  to  what  it  was  last  year,  and  the  bad  prin- 
ciple of  scattering  black-and-white  works  all 
through  the  huge  building  has  unfortunately  been 
copied  from  Munich. 

Among  the  one-man  shows  :  H.  Ende  (the 
architect  lately  deceased),  E.  Pfannschmidt,  G. 
Engelhardt,  W.  Kuhnert,  R.  Dammeier,  F.  Kall- 
morgen  and  L.  Schmidt-Reutte,  only  the  last 
two  need  be  specially  mentioned.  Kallmorgen's 
landscape  art  has  gained  in  strength  and  breadth 
since  he  left  Karlsruhe  and  settled  at  Berlin.  Of 
Schmidt-Reutte's  extraordinary  art  I  had  occasion 
to  say  a  word  or  two  in  my  last  year's  report  in 
connexion  with  his  exhibition  at  the  Munich 
Secession.  His  is  certainly  one  of  the  strongest 
talents  we  can  at  present  boast  of  in  Gennany. 
Few  can  draw  so  finely  as  he,  few  produce  such 
earnest,  serious  work  ;  and  if  the  report  be  true, 
according  to  which  this  most  promising  artist  has 
fallen  prey  to  a  fatal  disease,  we  have  most  serious 
cause  to  lament  his  fate. 

The  special  'attractions'  of  this  exhibition  em- 
brace, besides,  a  series  of  living  rooms  in  which 


Art  in  Germany 


the  modern  architect  and  decorator  displays  his 
craft.  The  union  of  the  fine  with  the  appHed  arts, 
as  is  practised  in  this  exhibition,  proves  to  be  not 
a  happy  one.  Several  years  ago,  when  there  was  a 
special  interest  abroad  in  the  achievements  of  our 
new  architect-decorators,  and  when  painters,  sud- 
denly turning  to  applied  art,  introduced  new  life 
into  the  craft  of  house  decoration,  the  display  of 
new  attempts  in  this  line  was  a  good  '  draw '  for 
art  exhibitions.  But  the  novelty  of  the  thing  has 
considerably  worn  off,  and  visitors  to  art  exhibi- 
tions have  recollected  that  their  real  reason  for 
going  to  fine  art  shows  must  always  remain  the 
desire  to  see  paintings  and  sculptures.  A.  J.  Balcke, 
E.  Friedmann,  W.  Kimbel,  A.  Koernig,  Mrs.  E. 
Oppler-Legband  and  M.  Salzmann  are  the  artists 
of  the  rooms  shown  this  year.  The  lighting,  un- 
fortunately, leaves  much  to  be  desired,  and  visitors 
can  scarcely  come  to  a  just  appreciation  of  what 
has  been  achieved. 

A  small  but  very  important  '  attraction '  of  the 
Grosse  Berliner  Ausstellung,  finally,  is  a  splendid 
collection  of  kakemonos.  Painting  on  silk  is 
about  the  only  phase  of  Japanese  art  which  is  not 
shown  at  Dresden  this  year ;  the  two  rooms  here 
at  Berlin,  in  consequence,  offer  a  most  welcome 
supplement  to  what  can  be  enjoyed  at  Dresden. 
Among  the  loans  there  are  a  round  number  of 
very  fine  paintings. 

As  to  the  body  of  the  exhibition  itself,  the 
general  mass  of  the  paintings  by  modern  German 
artists  on  view  at  the  '  Lehrter  Bahnhof  has 
perhaps  not  been  as  carefully  selected  as  last  year, 
and  the  average  standard  is  not  quite  as  high. 

The  first  impression  that  a  rapid  survey  of  this 
year's  Munich  Secession  conveys  upon  one  is  that 
of  a  good,  average  show,  without  any  particularly 
exciting  work,  but  in  like  measure  free  from 
actually  mediocre  specimens.  However,  another 
rather  less  complimentary  generalization  is  forced 
upon  one  very  soon  after  one  has  entered  upon  a 
more  careful  inspection  of  the  work  dished  up 
before  one.  Never  before  has  the  fact  been  im- 
pressed upon  me  so  strongly  as  here  that  many  of 
our  best  modern  artists  seem  really  to  be  at  their 
wits'  end.  This  applies  more  especially  to  their 
remarkable  choice  of  subject,  but  also  occasionally 
to  pictorial  handling.  I  can  conceive  of  no  impulse 
as  a  source  of  inspiration  for  such  a  picture  as 
M.Besn^ird's  Niuk  half-figure  seen  froin  the  back, 
except  the  mere  consideration  of  novelty.  It  does 
not  pretend  to  beauty  of  the  ordinary  sort,  either  as 
regards  the  physique  of  the  model,  the  pose  and 
design,  or  the  coloration.  Nor  is  the  distinguished 
quality  of  Besnard's  usual  brushwork  in  evidence. 
But  it  is  different  from  anything  he  has  ever  done, 
and  one  cannot  repress  the  uncomfortable  feeling 
that  this,  in  the  artist's  opinion,  seemed  a  sufficient 
raison  d'etre.     It  is  a  pity  when  an  artist  of  such 


standing  as  Besnard  comes  to  the  pass  of  denying 
his  own  self  in  favour  of  something  that,  far  from 
being  better,  or  even  interesting  by  itself,  is  simply 
different  from  what  we  are  wont  to  expect  of  him. 
In  the  best  days  of  former  periods,  no  artist  ever 
grew  weary  of  his  own  stamp,  as  it  were,  and 
almost  all  the  work  of  genuine  masters — imitators 
and  scholars  excepted — is  easily  allotted  to  its  author. 
Men  like  Besnard,  A.  von  Keller,  and  others  would 
appear,  by  the  light  of  this  show,  to  have  grown 
tired  of  themselves  earlier  than  we  grow  tired  of 
them.  Uhde  sent  in  a  huge  canvas  called  In  the 
Studio.  In  it  we  see  an  aggregation  of  the 
unavoidable  paraphernalia  of  his  art — what  a 
theatrical  man  would  call  his '  properties' — artificial 
angels'  wings  and  unintelligent  models  (who  have 
to  serve  for  Virgin  Marys  and  angels)  included. 
It  has  upon  me  the  effect  of  a  travesty.  We  all 
know  that  Uhde  could  not  have  painted  even  his 
early,  best  and  most  inspired  work  without  such 
external  help.  But  need  this  dira  necessitas  of  his 
art  be  thrust  down  our  throats,  as  it  were — and 
that,  too,  in  a  picture  about  eight  feet  by  six  I  If 
the  artist  no  longer  has  the  wit,  or  inspiration,  or 
power  of  whatever  kind,  to  handle  the  old  subjects 
which  made  him  famous,  this  sort  of  subject  seems 
a  poor  substitute  for  it.  Eugene  Wolff  paints  an 
interior  which  he  styles  Boudoir.  VVe  look 
upon  the  corner  of  a  room,  with  a  lounge  in  it, 
upon  which  lies,  carelessly  thrown — a  woman's 
stocking.  There  is  of  course  no  reason  in  the 
world  why  an  artist  should  not  paint  a  woman's 
stocking  ;  but  there  are  plenty,  I  should  say,  for 
his  not  making  it  the  point  upon  which  the  whole 
pictorial  and  colouristic  arrangement  of  his  picture 
hinges,  as  is  the  case  here.  Again  I  call  it  being 
at  your  wits'  end  when  you  cannot  manage  any- 
thing else  than  an  old  stocking  (the  point,  I  ought 
not  to  forget  to  mention,  is,  of  course,  not  made 
with  a  view  to  humorous  effect)  as  your  centre  of 
interest. 

A  good  deal  more  work  exhibited  at  the  Munich 
Secession  is  subject  to  strictures  of  this  kind 
— if  I  may  correctly  apply  this  expression  to  my 
criticism — but  I  will  refer  to  only  one  more 
specimen.  It  is  a  life-size  piece  of  sculpture  by 
Bernhard  Hoetger  which  he  calls  Torso.  VVe  all 
know  what  a  torso  is  and  that  the  oldest  specimens 
we  have  were  not  created  as  such,  but  are  fragments 
of  statues  broken  in  the  course  of  time.  Again, 
there  is  no  reason  why  an  artist  nowadays  should 
not  design,  from  the  beginning,  a  torso  and  no 
more,  even  though  he  may  intend  to  send  it  out 
into  the  world  as  a  complete  work  of  art.  But  he 
is  in  need  of  some  tact  at  least,  and  must,  unless  he 
wishes  to  startle  and  offend  us,  round  off  his  work 
in  one  of  two  ways.  He  must  leave  his  totso  in 
such  a  shape  as  in  the  course  of  natural  events  it 
would  have  broken  into  from  an  originally  com- 
plete  statue— in  other  words  he   must   keep   the 


THE     MAKCHESA     GluVANNA     CAIfANla).  liY      VAN 

DYCK.     IN   THE    COLLECTION    Ol'   MR.    HENKY   C.    FRICK 


3 


^^ 


ART    IN    AMERICA 
PLATE    I 


Art  in  Germany 


grain  and  power  of  resistance  of  his  material  in 
mind — or  he  must  finish  such  parts  of  the  human 
frame  as  he  inckides  in  his  scheme.  Hoetger's 
model  was  sMing  as  he  modelled  her.  He  cuts  ofif 
the  arms  about  five  inches  below  the  armpits,  and 
the  legs  square  across  about  a  third  of  the  way 
from  the  hips  down  to  the  knees.  As  you  stand 
before  the  Torso  you  are  confronted  by  twosawed- 
off  legs!  To  cap  the  climax,  this  Torso  has  a  head 
poised  on  a  delicate  neck  !  One  is  irresistibly  re- 
minded of  the  way  in  which  Caran  d'Ache  or 
Oberliinder  would  draw  a  caricature  of  an  auto- 
mobile accident.  Hoetger  may  feel  some  pride 
in  the  circumstance  that  doubtless  no  one  ever 
before  thought  of  disfiguring  an  otherwise  good 
piece  of  sculpture  by  such  trickery :  else  one 
is  at  a  loss  to  understand  why  he  should  have  gone 
out  of  the  natural  way  to  achieve  this  end. 

Franz  von  Stuck  paints  among  other  things  a 
young  girl  in  a  torero  costume  and  the  same  girl 
in  the  artificial  dress  of  a  'Velazquez'  princess. 
Neither  of  the  pictures  would  deserve  especial 
notice,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  he  has  painted 
upon  the  canvas  itself  legends  to  the  effect  that  this 
is  his  daughter,  and  that  her  name  is  Mary,  and 
that  she  went  to  a  fancy  dress  children's  ball  this 
season,  and  that  these  are  the  costumes  which  she 
wore.  What  right  has  he  to  obtrude  his  family 
affairs  upon  a  public  in  search  of  aesthetic  enjoy- 
ment ?  Or  is  this,  too,  a  new  knack  of  making 
pictures  interesting,  their  own  resources  failing  ? 

The  exhibition  is  distinguished  by  some  fine 
landscapes  by  Richard  Kaiser  and  T.  Stadler ; 
further,  by  excellent  interiors  and  figure  subjects 
painted  by  Ernest  Oppler,  E.  Spiro  (The  Courtezan, 
last  year  at  the  Berlin  Secession),  Ph.  Klein, 
E.  Orlik  and  W.  Oertel.  Theodor  Esser's  still-life 
of  mmerals  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  pieces 
of  painting  I  have  ever  seen.  The  two  male 
portraits  by  Ivan  Thiele,  now  residing  in  Paris,  are 
thoroughly  enjoyable,  low  in  tone  with  passionate 
colouring,  and  the  quiet,  unobtrusive  manner  of 
handling  to  which  there  is  a  general  return  now, 
and  which  seeks  to  be  lost  in  that  careful,  delicate 
style  of  draughtsmanship  such  as  we  are  learning 
to  readmire  in  the  best  work  of  the  Nazarenes. 

The  international  character  of  the  show  is 
supported — not  in  a  very  lively  manner — besides 
Besnard  and  Thiele,  by  Aman-Jean,  Blanche, 
La  very,  Raffaelli,  Saedeler,  and  some  Scandinavians, 
among  whom  Zorn  begins  to  weary  one  sadly  with 
his  commonplace  realism  of  handling. 


The  black-and-white  department  is  never  large 
at  these  shows.  There  are  many  new  Zorn  etchings 
and  half  a  dozen  good  Greiners  ;  however,  all  but 
one  of  these  are  old.  Oscar  Graf's  large  etched 
mezzotint,  which  he  calls  TJie  Dancer  in  the  Temple, 
is  excellent  and  certainly  one  of  the  very  best 
things  he  has  ever  produced. 

It  is  nothing  less  than  a  serious  affliction  to 
give  an  account  of  the  fine-art  exhibition  at  the 
Glaspalast !  I  have  never  before  seen  so  incredibly 
bad  a  show  on  so  large  a  scale.  What  has  the  Glas- 
palast come  to,  which  once  was  fortunate  enough 
to  house  the  magnificent  international  exhibition 
of  1888,  when  there  were  such  treats  as  a  room 
full  of  Whistlers  in  store  for  the  visitors  1  The 
artistic  standard  of  the  whole  west  wing  in  this 
year's  exhibition  is  far  below  low  water  mark. 
Such  rooms  as  Nos.  17,  20,  28  (Munich  Kunst- 
genossenschaft)  or  18  (Munich  Water  Colour  Club) 
are  replete  with  the  very  worst  kind  of  pot-boilers, 
dealers'  '  picters,'  and  insipid,  sottish  '  chromos.' 
It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  there  can  have 
been  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  jury  where 
such  pictures  as  H.  G.  Kricheldorf's  Prnnksti'tck, 
C.  Kronberger's  At  Cards,  C.  Langhorst's  Portrait 
of  the  Artist,  M.  Menzler's  On  the  Terrace  a.rt  hung. 

The  general  tone  of  the  exhibition  is  on  a  level 
with  its  art  standard.  The  rooms  are  high  and 
huge,  and  jumbled  in  endless  confusion.  The 
wall  hangings  change  colour  without  any  per- 
ceptible reason,  for  in  no  case  do  they  harmo- 
nize, particularly,  with  the  work  placed  upon 
them.  The  carpeting  is  dirty  and  unpleasant. 
The  hanging  itself  is  at  least  spacious,  as  it 
well  might  be,  since  there  is  such  an  immense 
amount  of  wall-space  available — all  the  more  this 
year,  as  it  seems,  because  artists  of  good  standing 
appear  to  have  handed  the  place  over  to  the 
dii  tninores. 

Under  these  conditions  it  is  simply  impossible 
to  hunt  out  the  superior  work.  The  east  wing 
of  the  building  shows  up  considerably  better 
than  the  other  :  the  display  of  the  '  Kiinstlerbund 
Bayern '  (Room  42)  is  good,  and  so,  of  course,  is 
that  of  the  '  Scholle.' 

The  black-and-white  is  again  scattered  through- 
out the  building,  and  hung  in  the  old  reprehen- 
sible style.  Even  plates  by  Muirhead  Bone  and 
Joseph  Pennell,  or  the  line  etchings  and  drawings 
by  Ubbelohde,  lack  effectiveness  thus  exhibited. 

H.  W.  S. 


REMBRANDT  AND  GIRTIN 

In  a  previous  article'  the  guiding  principles  of 
Rembrandt's  treatment  of  landscape  were  discussed 


'  See  The  Burlington'  Magazine,  Vol.  xii,  p    349  (March, 
1908). 


^  ART  IN  AMERICA  ^ 

in  connexion  with  two  drawings  from  the  famous 
book  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire 
at  Chatsworth.  It  was  then  pointed  out  that  the 
unique  place  occupied  by  Rembrandt  in  the  world 
of  art  was  largely  due  to  his  powers  of  abstraction 


375 


Art  in  America 


and  concentration,  by  which  he  was  enabled  to 
select  from  his  subject  just  those  qualities  and 
characteristics  that  were  required  for  its  pictorial 
expression,  and  to  reject  all  others.  In  the  case 
of  landscape  he  evidently  found  the  process  of 
selection  exceedingly  difficult,  and  it  was  not  till 
the  year  1640,  when  he  was  thirty-four  years  of 
age,  that  he  was  able  to  reason  out  for  himself  the 
sj'stem  of  landscape  drawing  which  he  afterwards 
emploj'ed  with  consistent  success. 

The  essence  of  his  system  was  the  total  or 
almost  total  suppression  of  local  colour.  Not  only 
did  the  addition  of  local  colour  in  the  lighter 
parts  of  his  drawing  lower  the  tone  so  much  as  to 
deprive  him  of  the  luminosity  suggested  by  the 
mellow  surface  of  the  paper  on  which  he  worked 
— a  luminosity  specially  needed  by  one  who 
depended  almost  wholly  upon  light  for  his  effects 
— but  local  colour  also  disturbed  the  emphasis  he 
sought  to  obtain  by  chiaroscuro.  Rembrandt's 
wash  drawings  in  monochrome  are  thus  not  only 
more  luminous  than  those  of  his  followers  who 
dabbled  with  colour  but  also  more  surely  and 
direcdy  emphatic. 

When  the  process  of  drawing  in  water  colour  was 
born  again  in  England,  it  was  born  a  servant  to 
engraving,  and  so  for  the  most  part  was  restricted 
either  to  monochrome  or  to  monochrome  re- 
inforced with  pale  washes  of  colour.  In  this  latter 
method,  of  which  the  solemn,  airy  sketches  of  John 
Robert  Cozens  are  perhaps  the  culmination,  the 
colour  is  an  accidental  or  negligible  quantity.  The 
real  force  and  effect  of  the  work  are  produced  by 
the  underlying  work  in  monochrome,  and  it  is 
usually  in  the  most  highly  coloured  drawings  by 
this  gifted  unfortunate  artist  that  we  are  most  con- 
scious of  an  occasional  discrepancy  between  the 
emphasis  of  the  colour-scheme  and  that  of  the 
chiaroscuro. 

When  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
it  became  the  common  practice  of  water-colour 
draughtsmen  to  supplement  their  work  for  the 
engravers  by  drawings  intended  for  sale  to  private 
purchasers,  these  independent  drawings  were  ex- 
hibited side  by  side  with  the  works  of  the  contem- 
porary oil  painters,  and  at  once  a  characteristic  of 
water-colour  drawing  became  unpleasantly  appar- 
ent. These  light,  airy,  tinted  sketches,  which  held 
their  own  so  well  when  appropriately  mounted 
and  hung  on  the  walls  of  a  room  among  other 
drawings  of  the  same  kind,  were  crushed  and 
overwhelmed  in  public  exhibitions  by  the  richly 
coloured  and  heavily  toned  oil  paintings  that  hung 
near  them.  It  was  some  time  before  this  inferiority 
was  remedied  by  hanging  water  colours  in  a 
separate  room,  and  in  the  meanwhile  the  water- 
colour  draughtsmen  were  at  their  wits'  end  to 
know  how  to  get  on  to  something  like  equal  terms 
with  the  painters  in  oil. 

This  could  only  be  done  by  giving  water  colour 


something  of  the  force  and  strength  of  oil  painting, 
and  the  accomplishment  of  this  feat  is  generally 
associated  with  the  name  of  Girtin.  He  is  fre- 
quently represented  as  the  forerunner  of  Turner, 
and  the  real  father  of  the  British  school  of  water 
colour,  but  his  claim  to  this  position  is  not  indis- 
putable. Admiration  for  Girtin's  drawings  turned 
Constable  from  an  amateur  into  an  artist,  and  was 
a^  notable  influence  upon  the  youthful  Turner. 
Yet  Turner  himself  was  in  turn  a  powerful 
influence  upon  Girtin,  and  even  during  Girtin's 
lifetime  was  the  more  famous  and  precocious  artist 
of  the  two,  and  in  later  life  developed  water  colour 
in  directions  of  which  Girtin's  work  gives  no 
promise  or  indication.  But  this  very  desire  for 
progress  and  novelty  carries  Turner  out  very  soon 
beyond  the  bounds  of  water-colour  drawing  ;  it 
becomes  a  process  as  complicated  as  the  oil  paint- 
ing it  was  attempting  to  rival. 

Girtin,  on  the  other  hand,  retained  during  his 
short  life  the  real  tradition  of  water-colour  drawing 
— the  tradition  of  the  clean  broad  wash  laid  freshly 
on  the  paper  and  never  modified  by  subsequent 
re-working — and  he  used  this  tradition  more 
grandly  and  perfectly  than  any  other  artist  did 
before  or  has  done  since.  Moreover,  in  his  best 
work,  while  suggesting  local  colour,  he  succeeded 
to  a  large  extent  in  avoiding  the  difficulties  con- 
nected with  it  which  Rembrandt  had  avoided  only 
by  working  in  monochrome. 

The  grave  and  poetical  drawing  of  Eashy  Ahhcy, 
recently  acquired  by  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
New  York,  illustrates  admirably  his  skill  in  this 
respect.  It  is  conceived  in  a  scheme  of  quiet 
colour  which,  for  all  its  quietness,  is  full  enough 
and  rich  enough  to  enable  the  drawing  to  hold  its 
own  even  among  oil  paintings  ;  but  it  is  only  upon 
close  examination  that  we  can  detect  the  secret 
of  that  quietness  and  that  strength.  We  then 
discover  the  amazing  fact  that  it  is  painted  with 
no  more  than  three  pigments — indigo,  gamboge, 
and  a  brown  which  looks  like  Vandyke  brown. 

This  limitation  of  palette  is  often  misunderstood. 
Even  the  more  authoritative  books  on  the  English 
school  of  water  colour  suggest,  even  where  they 
do  not  openly  state,  that  the  early  water  colourists 
employed  only  a  few  quiet  tones  from  necessity, 
because  the  science  of  colour-making  was  in  its 
infancy,  and  brighter  pigments  were  not  available. 
This  suggestion  has  been  copied  and  exaggerated 
by  minor  writers  till  it  has  become  almost  a 
tradition,  and  Mr.  A.  J.  Finberg's  little  sketch  of 
English  water-colour  painting  was,  I  think,  the 
first  book  in  which  the  mistake  was  definitely 
pointed  out  and  corrected.  We  have,  in  fact,  plenty 
of  evidence  both  in  English  and  Continental  draw- 
ings of  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  that 
bright  blues,  yellows  and  reds  were  available  for 
water-colour  work,  and  were  constantly  used  by 
artists.     So  that   Girtin   and   his    contemporaries 


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LOVE    DISARMED  :    A    SALVER   BV    (ilRDLAMO     OF     SIENA 
IN       THE      JARVES       COLLECTION,      YALE        LNIVERSITY 


ART   IN   AMERIC\ 
PLATE   IV 


could  easily  liave  employed  them  for  their  land- 
scape drawings  had  they  cared  to  do  so.  That 
they  did  not  employ  them  was  a  matter  of  deliberate 
choice,  and  I  think  when  their  work  is  seen  in 
proper  historical  perspective  it  is  not  difficult  to 
recognize  the  artistic  reasons  underlying  it. 

Let  us  consider  the  actual  way  in  which  this 
drawing  of  Easby  Abbey  is  produced.  Examination 
proves  that  the  whole  work  was  originally  laid  in 
with  the  warm  brown  of  which  I  have  spoken — 
the  main  masses  of  light  and  shade  being  broadly 
indicated,  and  the  lights  being  represented  by  the 
paper.  In  this  stage  the  drawing  was,  in  fact, 
analogous  to  the  drawings  of  Rembrandt  previously 
discussed,  and  had  the  same  qualities  of  breadth 
and  luminosity  which  Rembrandt's  landscape 
drawings  possess  in  a  supreme  degree.  Next  all  the 
cooler  tones  of  the  sky,  the  water,  the  grass  and  the 
foliage  were  laid  in  with  indigo,  still  very  broadly  and 
simply,  so  that  what  had  at  first  been  a  monochrome 
in  brown  was  turned  into  something  that  was  still 
hardly  more  than  a  monochrome  in  greenish  grey. 

The  drawing  being  still  monochromatic,  there 
was  no  danger  of  positive  local  colour  introducing 
an  emphasis  conflicting  with  the  emphasis  obtained 
by  light  and  shade,  and  in  the  process  of  finishing 
every  care  was  taken  to  prevent  any  new  cause  of 
disturbance  being  introduced.  The  high  lights  of 
the  foliage  are  gently  touched  with  gamboge  to 
redeem  them  from  coldness,  while  detail  and  texture 
are  broadly  indicated  here  and  there  with  firm 
strokes  of  the  same  brown  with  which  the  drawing 
was  started,  but  the  drawing  remains  in  essentials 
a  delicately  enriched  monochrome,  and  to  that 
owes  its  serene  and  luminous  quality.  To  this 
luminosity  the  breadth  of  the  massing  adds 
grandeur,  while  the  general  tone  of  deep  warm 
grey  in  which  it  is  carried  out  adds  solemnity. 
Were  we  to  force  the  green  of  the  fields  to  its 
actual  tone  in  nature,  were  we  to  heighten  in 
ever  so  small  a  degree  the  blue  of  the  sky,  and 
the  warm  colour  on  the  buildings  (as  a  modern 
artist  would  be  compelled  to  do  by  conscientious 
scruples  about  'truth'),  harmony,  luminosity  and 
majesty  would  vanish  together,  and  we  should  be 
left  with  only  a  common  water-colour  drawing. 
Indeed,  as  with  Rembrandt's  drawings,  this  Easby 
Abbey  is  an  example,  not  so  much  of  how  we 
should  look  at  nature,  but  of  how  much  we  must 
omit  if  we  are  to  suggest  nature  by  means  of  art. 

C.  J.  Holmes. 

THE  CATTANEO  VAN  DYCKS 

We  reproduce  on  page  371  (by  the  courtesy 
of  the  owner  and  of  Messrs.  P.  and  D.  Colnaghi 
and  Co.)  the  portrait  of  the  Marchesa  Giovanna 
Cattaneo  by  Van  Dyck,  recently  discovered  in  the 
Cattaneo  Palace  at  Genoa,  and  discussed  with 
other  works  by  this  artist  and  by  Rembrandt  in  The 
Burlington  Magazine  for  August,  pp.  306-316. 


^rt  in  America 

CASSONE  FRONTS  AND  SALVERS  IN 
AMERICAN  COLLECTIONS— VII  {coiiclusiony 
We  must  take  leave  of  this  theme  with  a  few  scat- 
tered notes.  Several  things  on  our  list  which 
F.  J.  M.  knows  are  unknown  to  me.  I  have  only 
seen  a  dim  print  of  the  Horse  Race  (in  the  Corso  ?) 
belonging  once  to  the  late  Mr.  Jarves  and  now  in 
the  Holden  collection  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  We 
have  not  been  permitted  to  publish  this  work, 
which  seems  a  rather  important  and  surely  a  charm- 
ing example  of  the  style  of  the  mid-quattrocento. 
The  Stonniiig  of  Pisa,  in  the  collection  of  Miss 
Eleanor  Blodgett,  New  York,  I  have  not  seen.  On 
rapid  examination  the  Falconetto  at  Fenway  Court 
seemed  to  me  of  no  very  high  artistic  significance. 

A  photograph  of  the  Triumph  oj  Caesar  in  the 
Bryan-De  Montor  collection  at  the  New  York 
Historical  Society  is  now  available.  This  panel  is 
frankly  descriptive  of  some  not  too  magnificent 
masque  of  the  period  {circa  1450).  A  triumphal 
procession  winding  in  from  a  hilly  background 
presents  two  chief  motives,  the  conquerer  Julius 
Caesar,  a  mere  lay  figure,  and  a  car  of  spoils  enters 
Rome  on  the  right.  A  portrait  group  is  introduced 
at  the  city  gate.  Musicians,  boys  with  dogs  in 
leash,  a  buffoon  on  Caesar's  'float,'  the  straining 
oxen  and  steeds  which  recall  the  hobby-horses 
of  Uccello  but  belong  to  a  less  imaginative  breed. 
A  fine  vista  of  a  distant  walled  town,  mountains 
and  clouds  make  up  a  lively  panorama.  The 
execution  in  tempera  is  brusque  and  dry  but 
effective,  and  charming  in  colour.  The  art  is  of 
the  Adimari-Ricasoli  Nozze  type,  but  inferior  to, 
and  distinctly  later  than,  that  masterpiece.  The 
artist  should  be  some  genial  tertiary  Florentine. 
I  recall  a  quite  similar  Trintnph  at  Oxford  in  the 
Taylor  Galleries. 

We  reproduce  the  Loi'c  Bound  by  Maidens, 
a  salver  at  New  Haven — a  free  copy,  seem- 
ingly by  Girolamo  of  Siena,  of  Benvenuto's 
very  beautiful  salver  in  the  Franchetti  collec- 
tion (published  in  '  L'Arte,'  III.  (1900),  p.  134). 
America  has  several  examples  of  Benvenuto,  one 
in  the  jarves  collection,  a  Madonna  attributed 
to  Matteo  (published  by  Jarves  and  in  the 
'American  Journal  of  Archaeology,'  June,  1895), 
one  in  the  Renwick  collection,  and  the  superb 
example  in  the  Fogg  Museum  published  by 
F.  Mason  Perkins  in  the  '  Rassegna').  Girolamo 
also  is  represented  in  American  collections  at 
Boston,  and  perhaps  in  the  execution  of  the 
altarpiece  by  Benvenuto  in  the  Fogg  Museum. 
The  artist  who  painted  Mr.  Salting's  Lady  in 
Green  is  a  witness  to  the  vitality  of  Siennese 
ideals  ;  and  to  juxtapose  Duccio  and  Girolamo, 
as    was    once    done     in     the    National    Gallery, 

'  Vov  the  previous  articles  sec  The  Burus-gton  ^lAGAZl^JE 
Vol.  ix,  p.  28S  (July,  1906) ;  Vol.  x,  pp.  67  (Octoticr,  1906).  205 
(J,iiiu:iry,  1907),  332  (Febru.iry,  1907) ;  Vol.  xi,  pp.  131  (.May, 
1907),  339  (August,  1907)  i  Vol.  xii,  p.  63  (October,  1907). 


Art  in  America 


was  to  illustrate  the  normal  temper  of  the  Sien- 
nese  mind  for  two  centuries.  Our  New  Haven 
tondo  is  slight  in  execution  but  of  rare  beauty. 
It  is  Siennese,  and  that  is  enough.  One  recalls 
a  salver  of  Benvenuto's  atelier  in  the  Louvre,  and 
one  which  belonged  to  the  late  Cavalliere  Bertini, 
of  Milan.  But  Siena  at  New  Haven  is  still  to  be 
published — including  a  Sassetta  besides  the  one 
which  Mr.  Berenson  has  described  and  repro- 
duced. We  are  still  waiting  for  a  good  modern 
catalogue  and  a  thorough  cxpedise. 

The  Metropolitan  Museum  has  recently  pur- 
chased a  chest-painting  representing,  according 
to  the  bulletin  of  the  museum,  The  Capture  of 
Salerno  by  Robert  Guiscard.  This  work,  which 
we  reproduce,  is  of  rare  importance  and  remark- 
able beauty.  It  is  worthy  of  a  special  article,  but 
I  can  only  set  down  an  impression.  One  feels 
here  a  sense  of  the  continuity  of  the  decorative 
tradition  between  the  trecento  and  the  quattro- 
cento. The  problem  it  presents  is  of  extreme 
interest  to  the  connoisseur.  Belonging  to  the 
mediaeval  survival  in  its  delightful  abstraction  of 
visible  terms,  and  thus  recalling  Spinello  and  Cen- 
nini,  there  is  a  conscious  representation  of  oriental 
types  in  the  prisoners — which  looks  odd  in  a 
Florentine  work  of  the  time — and  our  artist  sees 
his  action,  not  with  Spinello  as  lambent,  but 
with  Uccello  as  precipitated  in  rigid  poses.  The 
result  is  superb  in  decorative  effect. 

The  action  begins  at  the  right  with  a  dumb-show 
battle  conducted  by  the  fair  young  duke,  in  black 
and  gold  brocade,  before  rich  tents  and  with  gay 
banners — one  blazing  in  red  and  gold  like  an 
American  flag.  The  distance  of  mountains  and 
castles  ends  in  a  gold  background.  In  the  central 
compartment  of  the  panel  they  are  breaking  camp 
— or  establishing  it — at  the  city  gates.  Prisoners — 
the  Saracens — make  submission  or  are  bound 
captive.  At  our  left  is  the  triumphal  entry.  The 
cavalcade,  armoured  warriors  repeating  a  single 
profile  type,  proud  and  grim,  precede  their  leader 
through  the  lofty  gate.  In  the  foreground  is  the 
harbour  of  Salerno  with  ships  anchoring,  and 
behind  are  mountains  and  a  towering  castle.  The 
colour-scheme  of  the  panel,  in  fluent  tempera  with 
accessories  brusquely  indicated,  is  sumptuous  with 
simple  means.  The  reds — cardinals  not  too  asser- 
tive— and  blacks,  that  are  in  reality  deep  greens, 
in  the  armour  and  the  shipping,  with  the  tradi- 
tional trecento  greens  and  greys  of  sea  and 
ground,  the  black  and  white  and  bay  horses  on 
the  road  to  Uccello's  style,  warm  greys  and  pinks 
in  the  quite  sketchy  and  unelaborated  Tuscan 
architecture,  take  exquisite  patterns.  It  is  a  sort 
of  glorious  oriental  colour  in  a  Florentine  idiom. 
The  museum  is  fortunate  in  the  acquisition  of  this 
exceptionally  interesting  example  of  decorative  art, 
which  is  something  of  a  picture  as  well.  A  date 
of  about  1420  has  been  reasonably  suggested. 

382 


Resuming  briefly  the  stylistic  suggestions  made 
in  the  course  of  these  articles,  we  may  distinguish 
among  the  Florentine  chest-paintings  and  salvers 
of  the  early  Renaissance  the  following  general 
types  which  are  represented  in  American  collec- 
tions : — 

I.  Works  of  a  traditional  style  :  The  Capture  of 
Salerno,  described  above,  and  the  Birth  Plate  of 
1428,  in  the  Bryan  collection.^  2.  The  master  of 
the  Story  of  Dido,  in  the  Kestner  Museum  at 
Hanover.'  This  delightful  artist  would  seem  to 
belong  to  Uccello's  generation,  and  to  submit  to 
the  influence  of  that  master,  yet  to  be  independent 
of  him. 

I  should  say  now  that  the  Aeneid*  panels  and 
the  Tournament*  of  the  'Jarves  collection  were  by 
this  artist,  whose  style,  obscure  in  its  origin,  seems 
to  have  trecento  and  perhaps  north-Italian 
(Milanese)  affiliations.  He  is  quite  aloof  from 
Masaccio.  The  decorative  formulas  here,  as  with 
Uccello,  are  not  in  the  central  Florentine  tradition. 
They  are  descriptive  and  panoramic,  resembling 
in  this  respect  the  work  of  the  great  unknown 
master  of  the  Triumph  of  Death  at  Pisa,  and  of 
Ambrogio  Lorenzetti,  in  whom  this  genre  is 
original.  3.  The  master  of  the  Adimari-Ricasoli 
Nozse.  We  have  here  a  distinct  source  in  Masac- 
cio. The  Trinmph  of  Caesar  above  noticed  seems 
a  loose  derivative  of  this  type.  4.  Masaccio's 
direct  influence  is  exhibited  in  a  number  of 
decorative  works  of  a  more  reticent  design  and  a 
more  idealistic  tendency,  of  which  the  Garden 
o/Lorf;' at  New  Haven  is  a  good  example.  And 
Pescllino's  Triumphs  ^  are  the  classic  works  in  this 
kind.  5.  The  Bryan-Dc  Montor  r;7«;«/)/;  o/C/i/z;- 
alry,''  whether  from  the  atelier  of  Domenico  Ven- 
eziano  or  not,  belongs  certainly  to  Masaccio's 
tradition  also. 

These  examples,  which  happen  to  cover  almost 
every  early  pictorial  type  represented  in  European 
collections,  indicate  no  painter  of  first-rate  calibre 
as  personally  executing  any  of  the  work  which  we 
have  considered,  except  in  the  case  of  Pesellino  at 
Fenway  Court.  But  half  a  dozen  ignoti  are  about  all 
that  we  can  allow  for  the  best  works  of  this  class 
in  the  Florence  of  the  mid-tifteenth  century.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  one  or  more  of  these  men  may 
be  ultimately  identified.  I  may  add  that  several 
types  of  these  early  decorative  paintings  tend  to 
run  together,  and  that  the  technique  and  style  in- 
dicate a  small  group  of  men  who  chiefly  confined 
their  activity  to  industrial  work.  A  complete 
analysis  would  elucidate  the  tradition,  no  doubt. 

William  Rankin. 


'Vol.  xii,  pp.  62,  63  (October,  1907), 
'Vol.  xi,  p.  132  (May,  1907). 
*Vol,  xi,  pp.  128,  131  (May,  1907). 
»Vol.  xi,  pp.  338,339  (August,  1907). 
'  Vol.  X,  pp.  66,  67  (October,  1906). 
'Vol.  xii,  pp.  62,  63  (October,  1907), 


^  GENERAL  INDEX  TO  VOLUME  XIII  ^ 


Academicians,  pictures  by,  igg 

America,  art  in,  63-64,  116-124, 182-186,  241-248,  306-316,  375-382 

the  art  of  Albert  P.  Ryder,  63-64;  illustrated,  59,  62 

Rossetti :  an  observation,  116-123  ;  illustrated,  iig 

an  altarpiece  of  the  Catalan  school,  123-124 

two  specimens  of  La  Farge's  art  in  glass,  182-185  ;  illus- 
trated, 1S4 

the  Saint  Gaudens  exhibition,  1S5-1S6 

the  Spring  Academy,  186 

the  art  of  Kiyonaga,  241-248  ;  illustrated,  237,  240,  243,  246 

Rembrandt  and  Van  Dyck  in  the  Widener  and  Frick  col- 
lections, 306-316,   3S1-382  ;  illustrated,   250,  307,  311, 

314.371 
Rembrandt  and  Girtin,  375-3S1 ;  illustrated,  374 
cassone  fronts  and  salvers — VII,  381-3S2  ;  illustrated,  377, 
380 
Affairs  of  the  National  Gallery,  189-191 

Aldegrever,  Heinrich,  an  undescribed  woodcut  by,  219;  illus- 
trated, 217 
Amsterdam 

sacramental  silver  vessels  in  English  Reformed  church  at, 

27-28  ;  illustrated,  23,  26 
sacramental  silver  vessels  in  English  Episcopal  church  at, 
28 ;  illustrated,  26 
Ancient  buildings,  the  preservation  of,  251-252 
Architecture 

Florence  and  her  builders,  iS-22  ;  illustrated,  ig,  20.  21 
parallel  between  Florence  and  Edinburgh,  18-21 
Ariosto,  portrait  of,  by  Titian  or  Palma  ?  38 


Art  Books: 

'  A  Brief  Account  of  the    University   Press   at    Oxford.' 

F.  Madan,  M.A.,  297 
'  A  Catalogue  Raisonne  of  the  Works  of  the  Most  Eminent 
Dutch  Painters  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. '  C.  Hofstede 

de  Groot,  43 
'A  Guide  to  the  Paintings  in  the  Churches  and  Minor 

Museums  of  Florence.'     Maud  Cruttwell,  113 
'A  History  of  Art.'     Vol.1.     Dr.  G.  Carotti,  170 
'  A  History  of  the  Minr.ries.'     E.  M,  Tomlinson,  M.A.,  47 
'Alice's  Adventures  in  Wonderland.'     Lewis  Carroll.  48 
'  Art  and  Design  in  the  Decoration  of  Bookbindings,'  113 
'Art  in  Needlework.'     Lewis  F.  Day  and  Mary  Buckle,  46 
'  Ballads  and  Lyrics  of  Love.'     F.  Sidgwick,  229 
'  Bliitter  ftir  Gemaldekunde.'     Dr.  T.  v.  Frimmel,  113 
'  Byways  of  Collecting.'     Ethel  Deane,  112 
'  Das  Abendmahl  des  Leonardo  da  Vinci.'  Otto  Hoerth,  173 
'  Decorative  Heraldry.'     G.  W.  Eve,  174 
'Die  Holzmobel  der  Sammlung  Figdor.'   Dr.  H.  Stegmann, 

113 
'Die  Kunst  des  Portraits.'     Wilhelm  Waetzoldt,  44 
'  Die  Niederliindische  Holzschnitt-Passion.'     Dr.  W.  Mols- 

dorf,  228 
'  Die  Plastik  Sienas  im  Quattrocento.'     Paul  Schubring,  106 
'  Donatello.'     Paul  Schubring,  107 
'Drawings  by   Goya   in   the  Prado  at   Madrid.'    Part  I. 

D.  Anderson,  227 
'Eaily  Woodcut  Initials.'     Oscar  Jennings,  M.D.,  41 
'Federation  archtologique  et  historique  de  Belgique,'  48 
'  Fifty  Years  of  Jlodern  Painting.'     J.  E.  Phythian,45 
'  Folklore  as  an  Historical  Science.'     G.  L.  Gomme,  230 
'  Franz  Laurana.'     Wilhelm  Rolfs,  108 
'  Geschichte  der  Goldschmiedekunst  auf  technischer  Grund- 

lage,  Abteilung  ;  Xiello.'    Dr.  Max  Rosenberg,  109 
'  Heraldry  as  Art.'     G.  W.  Eve,  172 
'Jewellery.'     H.  Clifford  Smith,  M.A.,  294 
'  La  Peinture  Anglaise  de  ses  Origines  a  nos  Jours.'  Armand 

Dayot,  44 
'L'CEuvre  de  J.  B.  S.  Chardin  et  de  J.  H.  Fragonard.' 

Armand  D.iyot,  46 
'Manuel  d'Art  Musulman."     2  vols.     Gaston  Migeon,  168 
'  Meisterwerke  des  Stadtischen   Museums   der    bildenden 

Kiinste  zu  Leipzig.     Theodor  Schreiber,  22S 
'Moderne  Kultur.'     Vol.  2.     Dr.  E.  Heyck,  etc.,  229 
'Monatshefte  fiir  Kunstwissenschaft,'  48 
'Niederliindisches  Kiinstler  Lexikon.'     2  Band.     5  and  6. 

Dr.  A.  v.  Wurzbach,  i6g 
'  Our  Lady  in  Art.'     Mrs.  H.  Jenner,  296 


Art  Books— con  hi. 

'Papers  of  the  Society  of  Painters   in   Tempera."      C.  J. 

Herringham,  229 
'Perugino.'     G.  C.  Williamson,  Litt.D.,  45 

•  Petrarch  and  the  .\ncient  World.'     Pierre  de  Nolhr.c,  III 
'  Pinturicchio.'     Evelyn  March  Phillips,  45 

'  Piero  della  Francesca.'     W.  G.  W,aters,  iVl.A.,  45 
'Portraits  in  Suffolk  Houses  (West).'      Rev.  E.  Farrer,  171 
'  Rijksprentenkabinet,  Amsterdam.'  J.  Ph.  van  der  Kellen. 

Dzn,  42 
'  Royal  Academy  Pictures  and  Sculpture,  igoS,'  230 
'  Seals.'     Walter  de  Gray  Birch,  42 
'  Sir  Henry  Raeburn.'     R.  S.  Clouston,  45 
'Sir  Thomas  Lawrence.'     R.  S.  Clouston,  45 
'  Sir  William  Temple  upon  the  Gardens  of  Epicurus,'  112 
'Stained  Glass  Tours  in  France.'     C.  H.  Sherrill,  295 
'  St.  George  for  Merrie  England.'     M.  H.  Bullev,  296 
'Storia  dell'  Arte.'     Vol.  II,  Parte  I.     Dr.  Carotti,  iii 
'  The  Architecture  of  Greece  and  Rome.'     W.J.  Anderson 

and  R.  Phene  Spiers,  110 
'The  Babee's  Book,'  296 
'The  Bibliophile,' 48 

' The  Church  Plate  of  the  City  of  Chester.'     T.  S.  Ball,  109 
'  The  Coins  and  Medals  of  the  Knights  of  M.alta.'     Canon 

H.  C  Schembri,  43 
'The  Defence  of  Poesie.'     Sir  Philip  Sidnev,  297 
'  The  Greater  Abbeys  of  England.'  Rt.  Rev!  Abbot  Gasquet, 

174 
'  The  Legend  of  the  Holy  Fina,'  296 
'The  Mask,'  Vol.  I,  No.  i,  112 
'  The  Practical  Exemplar  of  Architecture,'  in 
'The   Red   Lily.'      Anatole   France.      Translated   byl.W. 

Stephens,  229 

•  The  Rhine  :  its  Valley  and  its  History,'    H.  J.  Mackinder, 

III 
'  The  Washbourne  Family.'     [ames  Davenport,  M.A.,  114 
'The  Winchester    Charts    of    Florentine    and    Venetian 

Painters  of  the  Renaissance.'     M.  J.  Rend.dl,  1 13 
'  Velasquez.'     R.  A.  M.  Stevenson,  45 
'  Vierzig    Metallschnitte  des    XV   Jahrhunderts.'      Georg 

Leidinger,  228 
'  Whistler.'     B.  Sickert,  297 

'  Wilton  House  Pictures.'     Nevile  R.  Wilkinson,  4G 
'Windsor.'     Sir  Richard  R.  Holmes,  K.C.V.O.,  no 
Art  Criticism 

the  pairter  as  critic,  3 
modern  pictures  in  the  saleroom,  67-69 
Art  Preservation,  the  new  Italian  law  for,  130-132 
Art  Publications,  50-51,  175-176,  298-299 

y 

Barye,  Antoine  Louis,  Theseus  and  Minotaur  by,  192 
Bastien  Lepage,  Les  Foins  by,  193 
Blake,  William,  Canterbury  Pilgrims  by,  197 
Baudry,  Paul 

bust  of,  192 

Madeleine  Brolian  by,  194 
Benzone,  Ambrose,  152,  i.-iS 
Books  reviewed,  see  under  '  Art  Books' 
Botticelli 

Mr.  Home's  book  on,  83-87 

dates  and  history  of  pictures  by,  85 

painting  now  first  attributed  to,  86 
Boudin,  Eugene,  work  bv,  at  National  Gallery,  343 
Brett,  J.,  Val  d'Aosta  by,  198 
Brian,  L.,  statue  by,  192 
Bronzes  •„     ,     ■    1 

snake  pattern  in  ancient  bronzes,  132-137  ;  illustrated 

metallesque  origin  of  ornament  in  Book  of  Durrow,  138; 
145;  illustrated 

bust  of  Commodus,  252-257  ;  illustrated,  253 
Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club,  illuminated  manuscripts  at,  126-129 

and  261-273 
Burne  Jones,  E.,  pictures  by,  197,  19S 

Campagnola,  Giulio,  work  of,  365-  366 
Carolus-Uuran,  E.  A.,  pictures  by,  193 
Carpeaux,  Jcaii-Hapliste,  Ugolino  by,  192 
Catalan  School,  an  altarpiece  of  the,  123-124 

CataioLues,  i75i  -9^ 


383 


General  Index  to   Volume  XIII 


Ceramics 

origin  and  development  of  Chinese  enamelled  porcelain, 

4-g,  69-78,  illustrated,  7,  71,  74,  79 
snake  pattern  in  ancient  pottery,  132-137  ;  illustrated 
Doccia  porcelainiof  the  earliest  period,  145-146;  illustrated, 

147.  150 

prices  paid  for  Sevres  porcelain  at  Windsor  Castle,  220-221 

Ming  bowl,  257-261 ;  illustrated,  259 
Cesare  da  Sesto 

St.  John  the  Ba/'tisi  by,  34-38  ;  illustrated,  35 

compared  with  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  37-38 
Chasseriau,  Theodore 

influence  of,  193,  194 

pictures  by,  194 
China 

enamelled  porcelain  of  the  Chinese,  4-9,  69-7S  ;  illustrated, 

7.  71.  74.  79 

the  snake  pattern  in,  132-137;  illustrated 

Ming  bowl,  257-261  ;  illustrated,  259 
Clifford  Smith,  H.,  letter  from  re  Jewellery,  366-367 
Cockerell,  Sydney  C,   128,  146,  151,  261 

Collins  Baker,  C.  H.,  letter  from  re  Herri  Met  de  Bles,   105-106 
Commodus,  bronze  bust  of,  252-257  ;  illustrated,  253 
Constable,  J. 

Dcdhain  Vale  by,  197 

some  Constable  puzzles,  286-287 
Contorniates,  on,  90-99;  illustrated,  95 

their  use,  90;  and  date,  91 

types  of  heads  on  obverse  of,  91-92  ;  illustrated,  95 

types  on  reverse  of,  92-99;  illustrated,  95 
Corot 

examples  of,  lent  to  National  Gallery,  334 

h'oon  by,  334  ;  illustrated,  329 

Marsh  at  Arleiix  du  Xord  by,  339  ;  illustrated.  329 

The  Bent  Tree  by,  339 ;  illustrated,  335 

Tlie  Wood  Gatherer  by,  339  ;  illustrated,  332 
Courbet,  Gustave,  inlluence  of,  on  French  painting,  193 
Crane,  Walter,  Renaissance  of  Venus  by,  199 
Crome,  Old,  Moonlight  Scene  by,  197 


Daubigny,  Charles  Francois,  Willows  and  Fishermen  by,  340 

Daumier,  Honore,  appreciation  of,  333 

David,  Gerard,  drawings  by,  155;  illustrated,  157 

David,  Jacques  Louis 

an  unknown  portrait  by,  78-83 ;  illustrated,  66 

technical  characteristics  of,  8l 

Joseph  Bara  by,  82-83 

Elisa  Bonaparte  by,  327-328  ;  illustrated,  326 
Dayotf  Armand,  181 

Decorative  Arts,  at  Franco-British  Exhibition,  205 
Delacroix,  Eugene 

paintings  by,  193 

not  represented  at  National  Gallery,  333 
Delaunay,  Jules-Elie,  The  Plagne  in  Rome  by,  194 
De  Loo,  Georges  H.,  letter  from  re  Jacqueline  de  Bourgogne, 

100,  105 
De  Troy,  I.  F.,  La  main  ehande  by,  327  ;  illustrated,  326 
Detaille,  Edouard,  The  Victims  of  Duty  by,  195 
Diaz 

Snn}iy  Days  in  the  Forest  by,  340  ;  illustrated,  338 

The  Storm  by,  340  ;  illustrated,  338 
Doccia  porcelain,  145-146;  illustrated,  147,  150 
Donatello,  a  sidelight  on  Donatello's  Annunciation,  222,227; 

illustrated,  223,  226 
Doria  Pamphili,   Prince,  letter  from  re  portrait  attributed  to 

Velazquez,  167  ;  illustrated,  166 
Dubois,  Paul,  sculpture  by,  192 
Diirer,  Albrecht,  his  works  in  their  order,  214-216 
Durrow,  ornament  in  book  of,  138-145;  illustrated 
Dyce,  William,  George  Herbeit  at  Beinerton  by,  198 


Edinburgh,  architectural  parallel  between  Florence  and,  18-21 
Edwin  Edwards,  Mrs.,  generosity  of,  to  National  Gallery,  327, 

339,  344 
Ellis,  H.  D.,  letter  from  re  silver  plate  made  at  King's  Lynn, 

106 


Elsheimer,  compared  with  Rembrandt,  38-39 

Enamel-work,  origin  of  ornament  in  book  of  Durrow,  138-145  ; 

illustrated 
Epstein,  Jacob,  sculpture  bv,  191 

Evangelists,  the  emblems  of  the,  162-167  ;  illustrated,  166 
Exhibitions 

at  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club,  128-129  and  261-273 

Franco-British  Exhibition,  192-205 


FALGUfeRE,  Alexandre,  Martyr  by,  192 
Fantin-Latour 

works  of,  at  National  Gallery,  327,  343 

Roses  by,  343  ;  illustrated,  341 
Flandrin,  Hippolyte,  portrait  of  Malibran  by  ?,  32S  ;  illustrated, 

323 
Florence  and  her  builders,  18-22  ;  illustrated,  19,  20,  21 
France 

art  in,  51-53,  177-181,  230-235,  299-305 

exhibitions,  51-53 

the  salons,  177-179 

sales,  179-181 

museums,  230-233,  302-303 

exhibitions,  233-235 

general  notes,  235,  303 

the  Louvre,  299-301 

Bibliotheque  Nationale,  301-302 

the  New  Luxembourg,  302 
Franco-British  Exhibition 

French  section  at,  192-195 

British  section  at,  195-200 

applied  arts  at,  200-205  '<  illustrated,  201 
French  school  in  NationalGallery,  327-344  ;  illustrated 
Furse,  Charles,  Lord  Roberts  by,  196 


Gainsborough,  T.,  pictures  by,  196 
Gericault 

Tlie  Passage  of  the  Ravine  by,  209-210  ;  illustrated,  188 

not  represented  at  National  Gallery,  333 
Germany,  Austria  and  Switzerland 

art  in.  53-63,  114-116,  181-182,  236,  241,  305-306,  367-375 

English  18th  century  art  at  Berlin,  53-54 

print  sales,  115 

Rembrandt  portrait  acquired  by  Berlin,  115 

discoveries  and  acquisitions,  181-182 

museums  and  galleries,  236,  241 

salons  of  1908,  367-375 
Germany,  the  crisis  in,  67 
Girtin,  Thomas,  Easby  Abbey  by,  374 
Gorleston  Psalter,  146,  151,  268 
Goya 

pictures  by,  at  Miethke  Gallery,  Vienna,  99  ;  illustrated 

Donna  Cenn  Bermndez  by,  98 

Arrest  of  a  Manola  by,  loi 

Portrait  of  an  Officer  by,  104 

Toreador  Pedro  Romero  attributed  to,  104 
Graves,  Algernon,  catalogue  of  Constable's  works  by,  286-287 
Greece 

Hairdressing  among  the  Ancient  Greeks,  351-358;  illustrated 
early  style,  351  ;  illustrated,  350 
after  Persian  wars,  352  ;  illustiated,  350 
fifth  century,  352,  357  ;  illustrated,  350,  353 
Hellenistic  age,  357-358  ;  illustrated,  356 
Greiffenhagen,  M.,  Tlie  Idyll  by,  200 


Hairdressing  among  Ancient  Greeks,  351-358  ;  illustrated,  350, 

353.  356 
HL-bert,  pictures  by,  194 
Herkomer,  Sir  Hubert  von,  'My  School  and  my  Gospel'  by, 

87-88 
Home,  H.  P.,  Book  on  Botticelli  by,  83-87 
Hunt,  Holman,  pictures  by,  200 


384 


General  Index  to  Volume  XIII 


Illuminated  Manuscripts 

at  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club,  128-129  and  261-273  ;  illus- 
trated 

Winchester  School,  262  ;  illustrated,  263 

Humphrey  de  Bohun,  262  ;   illustrated,  273 

Aldelmus  de  Virginitate,  262  ;  illustrated,  266 

Windmill  Psalter,  268  ;  illustrated,  266 

St.  Omer  Psalter,  268  ;  illustrated,  269 

Thomas  Chaundler,  273  ;  illustrated,  272 

snake  pattern  in,  132-137;  illustrated 

ornament  of  Book  of  Durrow,  138-145  ;  illustrated 

Gorleston  Psalter,  146,  151,  268 

Byzantine  and  Italian,  162 

Durham  Book,  162 ;  illustrated,  166 
Ingres,  J,  A.  D. 

portrait  of  Bartolini  by,  193 

portrait  of  Malibran  attributed  to,  32S  ;  illustrated,  323 
Ireland 

the  snake  pattern  in,  132-137  ;  illustrated 

origin  of  ornament  in  book  of  Durrow,  13S-145  ;  illustrated 
Isabey,  E.  L.  G.,  works  by,  at  National  Gallery,  334 
Italy 

the  new  Italian  Law,  'per  le  antichita,'  130-132 

Doccia  porcelain,  145-146  ;  illustrated,  147,  150 

Italian  illuminated  manuscripts,  162 


Metal-work,  origin  of  ornament  in  Book  of  Durrow,   138-145  • 

illustrated 
Michelangelo,  cracks  painted  by,  288-292  ;  illustrated,  289 
Millais,  portrait  of  Tennyson  by,  127-128  ;  illustrated,  126 
Ming  ware,  49,  69-78 

Vase  with  date-mark   of  Cheng-Hua  ;   illustrated,  7  ;    de- 
scribed, 75 

Vase  with  date-mark  of  Wan-Li  ;  illustrated  7,  described,  9 

Porcelain  enamelled  with  five  colours  ;  illustrated  71,  des- 
cribed 70-76 

Early  enamelled  ware ;  illustrated  74,  described  76 

Earlier  form  of  the  San-tstii,  illustrated,  79  ;  described,  77 

Bowl  with  silver-gilt  mounts  of  Tudor  period,  257-261 ;  'illus- 
trated, 259 
Modern  art  teaching,  a  defect  of,  87-88 
Modern  pictures  in  the  saleroom,  67-69 
Morris,  Willi;im 

Queen  Gnincvere  by,  197 

his  relation  to  applied  arts,  200,  203 
Museums,  319-322 

functions  of,  319-320 

satisfactory  arrangement  of,  320-322 
Munich,  reported  picture  forgeries  at,  100 


Japan,  colour-prints  by  Kiyonaga,  241-24S  ;  illustrated 
John,  Augustus  E.,  pictures  by,  200 


Kelly,  Gerald  Fe?tus.  pictures  by,  200 

Kristeller,  Paul,  book  on  Giulio  Campagnola  by,  365-366 

Kronig,  J.  O.,  letter  from  re  Portrait  of  a  Lady  as  the  Magdalen, 

227 
Kampveer,  silver  seventeenth-century  beakers  from,  33 
Kiyonaga 

the  art  of,  241-248 ;  illustrated,  237,  240,  243,  246 

his  life,  242 

evolution  of  his  art,  247-248 


National  Gallery 

two  recent  additions  to,  33-34  ;  illustrated,  32,  35 
the  '  Portrait  of  a  Poet '  in,  38 
the  affairs  of  the,  189-191 
the  affairs  of  the,  a  correction,  252 

the  French  school  in  the.  327-344  ;  illustrated,  323,  326,  329, 
332.  335,  338,  341 
National  Portrait  Gallery,  a  recent  addition  to  the,  206,   209  ; 
illustrated,  207 


Orpen,  William,  The  Valuers  by,  200 


Lane,  Hugh  P.,  195 

Lathrop,  Francis,  Japanese  colour-prints  in  collection  of,  241- 

248  ;  illustrated,  237,  240,  243,  246 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  compared  with  Cesare  da  Sesto,  37-38 
Letters  to  the  Editor 

Georges  H.  de  Loo,  100,  105 

C.  H.  Collins  Baker,  105-106 

H.  D.  Ellis,  106 

Prince  Doria  Pamphili.  167 

William  White,  167-168 

J.  O.  Kronig,  227 

Cecil  H.  Smith,  292-293 

John  C.  Van  Lennep,  293-294 

V.  D.  P.,  366 

H.  Clifford  Smith,  366-367 
Louvre 

picture  by  El  Greco  recently  acquired  by,  51 

portrait  by  Hans  Meralinc  recently  acquired  by,  230,  233  • 
illustrated,  231 
Lysippus,  the  medallist,  274-286,  366 

medals  by,  274-279  ;  illustraled,  275,  281 

medals  attributed  to,  279-286  ;  illustrated,  2S4 


Mabuse 

Jacqueline  tie  Bourgogne  by,  33  ;  illustrated,  32 
_  A  Lady  as  St.  Mary  Magdalen  by  ?  34  ;  illustrated,  35 
Maitre  de  Flemalle,  a  lost  masterpiece  by,  161-162  ;  illustrated, 

163 
Manet,  Edouard,  Pictures  by,  105 

Medals,  the  Medallist  Lysippus.  274-286  ;  illustrated,  275.  281,  2S4 
Mediterranean,  the  snake  pattern  in  the,  132-137  ;  illustrated 
Memling,  Hans,  portrait  by,  230,  233  ;  illustrated,  231 


Perkins,  C.  W.  Dyson,  146,  151 

Pisanello,  new  light  on,  288 

Porcelain,  see  under  Ceramics 

Portraits 

an  unknown  portrait  by  J.  L.  David,  78-83  ;  illustrated,  66 
Margaret  Beaufort,  206,  209;  illustrated,  207 

Preraphaelites,  pictures  by,  197 

Prints 

Virgin  Adoring  the  Infant  Saviour  by  Filippino  Lippi,  175 

Madonna  and  Child  attributed  to  Hubert  v.  Eyck,  175 

Portrait  of  a  young  num  by  Antonello  da  Messina,  175 

Portrait  of  a  Canon  by  Catena,  175 

Scene  from  the  Childhood  of  a  Saint  by  Filippo  Lippi,  175 

Allegory  of  Music  by  Filippino,  175 

Portrait  of  Ranuceio  Farnese  by  Francesco  Rossi  de'Salviati, 

175 

of  '  Medici'  '  series,  297-298 

from  Griinewald's  Isenheim  altarpiece,  298 
Puvis  de  Chavannes 

a  chapter  from  '  Modern  Painters,'  9-18 

La  PHelie  by,  12,  17  ;  illustrated,  2 

L'Esperance  by,  iS  ;  illustrated,  13 

La  Faniille  dii  Pecheur  by  ;  illustrated,  16 

his  landscape  design,  11-12 

his  method  of  work,  12-17 

Decapitation  of  S.  'John  by,  194 
I 


Quattrocento  Book  Collecting,  359-362 

influence  of  Humanists  on  clerical  patrons,  359 
quest  for  ancient  manuscipts,  360 
wealthy  patrons  of  classical  revival,  360 
seamy  side  and  nobler  element  of,  361 


385 


General  Index  to   Volume  XIII 


Rembrandt 

compared  with  Elsheimer,  38-39 

compared  with  Van  Dyck,  306-316 

self  portrnit  by.  307 

Girtin  and,  375-38i 
Renoir,  Pierre  Auguste,  La  Lege  by,  195 
Reviews,  see  tiiider  'Art  Books  ' 
Ricard,  Louis  Gustave,  pictures  by,  194 
Ricketts,  Charles,  i6i 
Rossellino,   Bernardo,   compared    with    Donatello,   222,   227  ; 

illustrated,  223,  226 
Rossetti,  Dante  Gabriel 

an  observation  on,  116-123 

The  Lady  Lilith  by,  119 

pictures  by,  198 
Rothenstein,  W.,  The  Doll's  House  by,  199 
Rude,  Fran(;ois,  The  Dead  Cavaignac  by,  192 
Rysbrack,  John  Michael,  terra-cotta  bust  by,  362 ;  illustrated,  363 


Smith,   Cecil  H.,  letter  from  re  Greek  statue  from  Trentham, 

292-293 
Snake  pattern,  the,  132-137,  illustrated 
Solomon,  Simeon,  pictures  by,  197 
Spain 

The  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Older  Spain,  88-90 

Some  Early  Spanish  Masters,  155-156 
Stage  Production,  '  Lanval '  at  the  Playhouse,  161 
Strang,  W.,  Suffer  Time  by,  199 


Tennyson,  Alfred,  portrait  of,  by  Millais,  127-128  ;  illustrated, 

126 
Teyler's  Second  Society  of  Haarlem,  r9o8,  40 
The  Hague 

sacramental   silver  vessels  of  English  church  in,  28,  35  ; 

illustrated,  29 
plate  of  former  English  church  in,  100 
Tschudi,  Dr,  Von,  67 


Saint-Aubin,  Gabriel  de,  The  Parade  by,  151-152 ;  illustrated, 

153  ;  see  also  327 
Salting,  George 

Chinese  porcelain  in  collection  of,  74,  79 

bust  of  Commodus  belonging  to,  252-257 

loans  to  National  Gallery  by,  334,  339,  340 
Sandys,  P'rederick,  Mrs.  Stephen  Lewis  by,  198 
Sculpture 

Greek  statue  from  Trentham,  156,  160,  292-293 

Mr.  Epstein's  sculpture  in  the  Strand,  igi 

at  Franco-British  Exhibition,  192,  200 

terra-cotta  bust  by  Rysbrack,  362  ;  illustrated,  363 
Sellaio,  Jacopo  del,  210-213 

his  life,  210-211 

altarpieces  by,  211  213 

altarpieces  wrongly  ascribed  to,  213 
Shannon,  Charles,  pictures  by,  199,  200 
Silver 

Old  Sacramental  Vessels  of  English  churches  in   Holland, 
22-23  ;  illustrated  21,  26,  29 

of  English  Reformed  Church,  Amsterdam,  27-28 

of  English  Episcopal  Church,  Amsterdam,  28 

of  English  Church  at  the  Hague,  2S 

English  Silversmiths  in  St.  Petersburg  39-40 

Sacramental  Plate  of  S.  Peter's  Church,  Vere  St.,  137-138; 
illustrated,  139,  142 
Sistine  Chapel,  cracks  in  ceiling  of,  288-292  ;  illustrated  289 
Small  books,  Pamphlets  and  Catalogues,  49,  114 


V.  D.  P.,  Letter  from  re  the  Medallist  Lysippus,  3O6 
Van  Dyck 

compared  with  Rembrandt,  306-316 

Elena  Grinialdi  by,  250 

Canevaro  by,  311 

Filippo  Cattaneo  by,  314 

Clelia  Cattaneo  by,  314 

Mareliesa  Giovanna  Cattaneo  by,  371 
Van  Lennep,  John  C,  letter  from  re  portraits  in  Kann  Collec- 
tion, 293-294 
Velazquez,  portrait  of  a  boy  by  ?  167  ;  illustrated,  166 
Venice,  demolition  of  warehouse  of  Persians  in,  221 


Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 

examples  of  Chinese  enamelled  porcelain  in,  71,  74 
The  Swing  by  Watteau  in,  345-351  ;  illustrated  31s,  347 

Watteau 

A  Watteau  in  the  Jones  collection,  34S-351  ;  illustrated,  318, 

347 
Tlie  Swing  by,  318 
White,  William,  letter  from  re  '  Fuller'  coast-scene  by  Turner, 

167-168 
Williams,  Leonard,  'The  Arts  and  Crafts  of  Older  Spain'  by 

88-90 
Windsor  Castle,  prices  paid  for  SIvres  porcelain  at,  220-221 
Wood  Brown,  J.,  '  The  Builders  of  Florence  '  by,  18-21 


386 


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